PA- 42yo Douglas Dietz murdered, son being charged as adult on his 11th birthday - Duncannon, Perry County, 13 Jan 2026

[lonetraveler]

'Daddy's dead': PA boy had Nintendo Switch taken away before shooting father: docs

'Daddy's dead': PA boy had Nintendo Switch taken away before shooting father: docs

Court records are revealing what led up to a shooting that claimed the life of a central Pa. man and had an 11-year-old charged with homicide.Clayton Dietz, wh

local21news.com

CD, who was celebrating his 11th birthday the day of the shooting, was looking for his Nintendo Switch that was previously taken away from him when he found a revolver, according to an affidavit.

CD told authorities he found keys to the gun safe while searching for the console and thought it might be stored in there. He grabbed the gun, a revolver, from the safe, and loaded it.

Jillian Dietz also told troopers she and Douglas Dietz had adopted CD in 2018.

I want to know the rest of the story about the boy's injuries to his face.
In this same article:

"Authorities noted that <redacted> had a "large contusion" above his left eye and a small laceration near the middle of his lower lip".

 

[FromGermany1]

I'll wait to read more. He's not newly adopted, e.g. right out of the system, so I suspect something in the home environment.

I don't understand, why the father of the 11yo was able to even adopt a child, if the PFA from years ago and from his ex family is true. IMO, the adoption agency had to have find him as a father to an adopted child completely unsuitable, especially when the boy had some issues like Autism and "being troubled". In addition: Why did the mother think years ago, her husband would be a right father for this little "difficult" boy?

There were some oversights and wrong decisions, it seems to me.

Well, I also have to wait for more to come.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Dear Lord...

'I killed Daddy': Pennsylvania boy, 11, shoots dad after Nintendo Switch taken away, courts docs say

DUNCANNON, Pa. -- An 11-year-old boy faces homicide charges after shooting and killing his father in Perry County, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

WGAL News 8 obtained court documents that reveal new details about what happened the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 13, in Duncannon Borough.

Officers responded to a home on South Market Street around 3:20 a.m. for an "unresponsive male" and found Douglas Dietz, 42, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the documents.

Douglas was found in his bed in the bedroom he shares with his wife, which is connected to their son's bedroom by a closet, according to the affidavit.

After investigating, police identified Douglas' 11-year-old son, Clayton Dietz, as the suspect.

 

[tlcya]

awful case. Just wow. There is thread for it here:

PA - Duncannon, 42yo Douglas Dietz murdered, son being charged as adult on his 11th birthday, 13 Jan 2026

 

[JoeFromLB]

Thanks for that, @tlcya . I didn't see it.
Yes, an awful case...

 

[Bounceycat]

I don't understand, why the father of the 11yo was able to even adopt a child, if the PFA from years ago and from his ex family is true. IMO, the adoption agency had to have find him as a father to an adopted child completely unsuitable, especially when the boy had some issues like Autism and "being troubled". In addition: Why did the mother think years ago, her husband would be a right father for this little "difficult" boy?

There were some oversights and wrong decisions, it seems to me.

Well, I also have to wait for more to come.

If it was a private/family adoption, would that have come into play? Just speculation and wondering on my part.

 

[Bounceycat]

JD quoted: “The day has come, another year has passed. You my sweetest, smart, brave, MOUTHY little boy are another year older. I cant believe your 11 already!” the post said. “You have been through more than most children your age and even though you struggle sometimes you have still overcome, you have still blossomed into someone GREAT.”

Can you provide a link to where this quote is from please? I'm assuming JD means the mom, Jillian?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Can you provide a link to where this quote is from please? I'm assuming JD means the mom, Jillian?

You posted it here yesterday: PA - Duncannon, 42yo Douglas Dietz murdered, son being charged as adult on his 11th birthday, 13 Jan 2026

MSM source: Boy, 11, charged with homicide in man’s shooting death in their Perry County home

 

[Bounceycat]

You posted it here yesterday: PA - Duncannon, 42yo Douglas Dietz murdered, son being charged as adult on his 11th birthday, 13 Jan 2026

MSM source: Boy, 11, charged with homicide in man’s shooting death in their Perry County home

Thank you! It's certainly been A Week, and I don't even remember reading that

 

[Spectrix]

Thank you! It's certainly been A Week, and I don't even remember reading that

That's the story of my life

 

[MrsWatson]

US boy, 11, allegedly shoots father to death after Nintendo Switch taken away

Pennsylvania boy facing criminal homicide charges after 13 January shooting at family’s home

www.theguardian.com

 

[spookyprincess]

This seems a little too loud to think that smell was from fireworks. Especially if she was right next to her husband head in the bed next to her. This story has so many holes.. and now this kid has gone from our son, to step son, to we adopted him, to foster kid ..this is one of those that will keep me up at night. He’s going to prison for murder as an adult being an autistic newly 11 year old kid.

This is what a revolver sounds like:

 

[Spectrix]

This seems a little too loud to think that smell was from fireworks. Especially if she was right next to her husband head in the bed next to her. This story has so many holes.. and now this kid has gone from our son, to step son, to we adopted him, to foster kid ..this is one of those that will keep me up at night. He’s going to prison for murder as an adult being an autistic newly 11 year old kid.

This does not look like some sort of conspiracy to me.

As far as the reporting on the boy being a son/foster child/adoptee - you can expect variations in details like that as the press are in the process of gathering details.

A charge for murder these days - with modern forensic evidence - has a very high bar. The police will have done their due diligence with forensic testing (for example) the boys clothing for gunshot residue, fingerprints/ DNA on the firearm and shell casings, blood spatter analysis etc etc.

There's also the initial evidence such as this:
Police said Clayton then entered the bedroom and shouted, "Daddy’s dead." Troopers at the scene also said they heard Clayton tell his mother, "I killed Daddy."

The boy is very much still a child. Children are not placed in Adult prisons. Being tried as an adult is about the prosecution process and the sentencing.
I would not expect this to be life without parole kind situation for an eleven year old with no criminal history.

-

 

[DonAntonio]

I can imagine that CD was angry and upset when his Nintendo was taken as a punishment. Normally the anger will disappear after a while. He waits till the middle of the night to try to find his Nintendo. Thats already bizar. Instead finding a key to open a safe and find a gun and load this gun is even more bizar. To walk with a loaded gun and aim and shoot this gun at his dad is extreme behavior and absolutely not normal for a child. I hope they will examine CS very intensive because to me he has potential to become a Serial killer when he grews older. <Modsnip-source>. For now its good he is in prison so the community will be save for a while. Maybe he can leave his miserabel life so far behind him in future and become a good citizen if he ever comes out of jail.

 

[spookyprincess]

I

This does not look like some sort of conspiracy to me.

As far as the reporting on the boy being a son/foster child/adoptee - you can expect variations in details like that as the press are in the process of gathering details.

A charge for murder these days - with modern forensic evidence - has a very high bar. The police will have done their due diligence with forensic testing (for example) the boys clothing for gunshot residue, fingerprints/ DNA on the firearm and shell casings, blood spatter analysis etc etc.

There's also the initial evidence such as this:
Police said Clayton then entered the bedroom and shouted, "Daddy’s dead." Troopers at the scene also said they heard Clayton tell his mother, "I killed Daddy."

The boy is very much still a child. Children are not placed in Adult prisons. Being tried as an adult is about the prosecution process and the sentencing.
I would not expect this to be life without parole kind situation for an eleven year old with no criminal history.

-

I have heard mixed stories that the switch was taken away days before this happened...I guess because I have a 9 year old autistic child and I know all autistic kids aren't the same...but they are not socially aware..so it makes since that he thought about shooting him but didn't think what would happen next..he might not even have realized he might kill his dad. Also, if I take my son;s tablet away he will search everywhere for it until he finds it..so im guessing thats what CD was also doing..and if they knew him like they said they did they would have known he would have most likely searched his fathers drawers (thats where we hide ours)..so why would u also keep the key to a gun safe in a drawer he is most likely to look in.

 

[spookyprincess]

I can imagine that CD was angry and upset when his Nintendo was taken as a punishment. Normally the anger will disappear after a while. He waits till the middle of the night to try to find his Nintendo. Thats already bizar. Instead finding a key to open a safe and find a gun and load this gun is even more bizar. To walk with a loaded gun and aim and shoot this gun at his dad is extreme behavior and absolutely not normal for a child. I hope they will examine CS very intensive because to me he has potential to become a Serial killer when he grews older. <Modsnip-source>. For now its good he is in prison so the community will be save for a while. Maybe he can leave his miserabel life so far behind him in future and become a good citizen if he ever comes out of jail.

I totally agree..he was probably thinking of that switch for the entire time it was taken away..and if this is an autistic child there's no way he just fires this loud gun in the dark and it doesn't scare the crap out of him..he just casually goes into the closet and says i killed daddy.. I don't know what level of autism he has but unless hes heard that noise before i dont know what kid wouldn't be scared..

 

[Aegon_the_Conqueror]

Charging him as an adult is a mistake. Either age is a factor in one's decision-making, or it isn't. The seriousness of the crime isn't a reason to overlook that fact. If he was old enough to know right from wrong (there wasn't a point in my childhood, after learning that death exists, where I didn't know that killing someone was wrong), they should change the law from "adult" to age 11. The prosecutor will have a tough task convincing 12 jurors to convict an 11 year old of murder. More likely, they'll settle on some level of manslaughter (if it's on the table) or an outright acquittal, if it isn't a hung jury.

When I was a kid, a guy in my town was 13 when he stole a gun from a neighbor's house, then later shot his friend during an argument... He said he didn't know it was loaded, but there's no way of knowing. He was charged as a juvenile, and wasn't mentally ill or disabled. If they charged him as a juvenile, there's no reason why an 11 year old shouldn't be.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I could see there might be a case where it's appropriate to charge an 11-year-old as an adult, but I am not sure about this one.

I feel the actual adults in the house completely failed him if he was able to find a gun.

Between his history and alleged diagnoses, I hope he has a good attorney.

 

[spookyprincess]

I could see there might be a case where it's appropriate to charge an 11-year-old as an adult, but I am not sure about this one.

I feel the actual adults in the house completely failed him if he was able to find a gun.

Between his history and alleged diagnoses, I hope he has a good attorney.

I hope so too..they are making it seem like in PA there is no special treatment for anyone..the reporting on this story has been terrible.

 

[katydid23]

I wonder about the very early childhood of this boy, before he was adopted, and how he came to be adopted by this couple. Also which sort of therapies or support he was already receiving.

Regarding the gun, -- was this his first time holding and using it, or had the father taught him to use it, as some families do?

I have similar thoughts /questions.
When a 3 yr old cannot live with either of his parents, often the child will be placed with grandparents or aunts and uncles, and stay within the family. So is there some unusual reason why he could not do so ?

A lot of times, the IAP for autistic elementary school students is focused upon academic issues and social issues---like how to get along in the classroom. given the recent issue with sexual comments etc, they probably were looking into getting him more serious help in that area. imo