Northeast

11-year-old accused in adoptive dad’s birthday night killing over video game now faces adult trial: docs

Published

7 days ago

February 26, 2026

11-year-old accused in adoptive dad’s birthday night killing over video game now faces adult trial: docs

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An 11-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting his father inside their Pennsylvania home made his first court appearance Thursday, about a month after the deadly incident.

Clayton Dietz, 11, is charged as an adult with criminal homicide in the Jan. 13 shooting death of his adoptive father, 42-year-old Douglas Dietz. The shooting happened in the family’s Duncannon home on the child’s birthday.

According to a Perry County criminal docket, Dietz waived his preliminary hearing on Feb. 19, and the case was marked “waived for court,” meaning it will proceed to the Court of Common Pleas.

The docket shows bail was denied Jan. 13, and Dietz remains confined at the Perry County Prison.

Local outlet WHP reported that Dietz arrived at the Perry County Courthouse in New Bloomfield just after noon for his scheduled 1:30 p.m. preliminary hearing. He was handcuffed and surrounded by probation officers as he entered the courtroom, the outlet noted.

The Perry County Courthouse in New Bloomfield, Pa., where 11-year-old Clayton Dietz waived his preliminary hearing in the fatal shooting case involving his father. (Google Maps)

Family members declined to comment after the proceeding, WHP reported. However, defense attorney Dave Wilson said he plans to seek a transfer of the case to juvenile court.

“My goal is going to be to try to get him into juvenile court,” Wilson said, according to the outlet.

Court records cited by WHP outline what investigators say led up to the shooting.

Authorities were called to the home shortly after 3 a.m. Jan. 13, and Douglas Dietz was found on his back with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, according to the affidavit referenced by the outlet.

DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER’S STEPSON ARRESTED AFTER 13-YEAR-OLD SON’S FATAL SHOOTING

The Pennsylvania State Police Museum in Hershey covers the history of the first uniformed state police department in the U.S. (Tim Leedy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

Jillian Dietz, Douglas’ wife and Clayton’s mother, told investigators she and her husband had gone to bed shortly after midnight after singing “Happy Birthday” to Clayton. A loud noise woke her from her sleep, and after attempting to wake her husband, she realized he was unresponsive and discovered blood on the bed, according to court documents cited by WHP.

When Clayton entered the room, Jillian yelled words to the effect of “Daddy’s dead,” the outlet reported. The boy allegedly ran downstairs shouting, “My dad’s dead.”

While speaking with Jillian and Clayton in the kitchen, a state trooper reported hearing Clayton say, “I killed Daddy,” according to the outlet.

GEORGIA FATHER ON TRIAL, ACCUSED OF GIVING SON RIFLE BEFORE SCHOOL SHOOTING

A shot from above of a young man’s hands holding a neon-colored Nintendo Switch video game system developed and released by Nintendo Co., Ltd. in 2017. (iStock)

Investigators allege Clayton told authorities he had been searching for his Nintendo Switch, which had previously been taken away from him, when he found the keys to a gun safe. Believing the gaming console might be inside, he opened the safe and retrieved a revolver, WHP reported.

During questioning, Clayton allegedly said he became upset after being told to go to bed. When asked what he thought would happen when he fired the gun, he reportedly said he was angry and did not consider the consequences, according to the outlet.

Court records cited by WHP state Clayton admitted that “he had someone in mind who he was going to shoot” and that he loaded the revolver, pulled back the hammer and shot his father while he was sleeping.

GEORGIA TEEN ARRESTED AFTER FATHER TURNS HIM IN FOLLOWING PAIR OF SHOOTINGS, POLICE SAY

Authorities also noted Clayton had a “large contusion” above his left eye and a small laceration on his lower lip, the outlet reported.

In a news release issued the day of the shooting, the Perry County District Attorney’s Office said Pennsylvania State Police responded to the home at approximately 3 a.m. for a report of a male with a gunshot wound. Upon arrival, troopers found Douglas Dietz deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.

Clayton remains charged as an adult with criminal homicide. Further proceedings are expected as the defense seeks to move the case to juvenile court.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

Fox News Digital reached out to Dietz’s lawyer for comment.

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security.

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Maine

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Published

52 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

Robert Bryan is a licensed forester from Harpswell and author or co-author of numerous publications on managing forests for wildlife. Paul Larrivee is a licensed forester from New Gloucester who manages both private and public lands, and a former Maine Forest Service forester.

In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a conservation plan and forest management plan as mitigation for impacts from the NECEC transmission corridor that runs from the Quebec border 53 miles to central Maine.

As professional foresters, we were astonished by the lack of scientific credibility in the definition of “mature forest habitat” that was approved by DEP, and the business-as-usual commercial forestry proposed for over 80% of the conservation area.

The DEP’s approval requires NECEC to establish and protect 50,000 acres to be managed for mature-forest wildlife species and wildlife travel corridors along riparian areas and between mature forest habitats. The conservation plan will establish an area adjacent to the new transmission corridor to be protected under a conservation easement held by the state. Under this plan, 50% of the area will be managed as mature forest habitat.

Under the forest management plan, a typical even-aged stand will qualify as “mature forest habitat” once 50 feet tall, which is only about 50 years old. These stands will lack large trees that provide wildlife denning and nesting sites, multiple vegetation layers that mature-forest birds use for nesting and feeding habitats and large decaying trees and downed logs that provide habitat for insects, fungi and small mammals, which in turn benefit larger predators.

Another major concern is that contrary to the earlier DEP order, the final approval allows standard sustainable forestry operations on the 84% of the forest located outside the stream buffers and special habitats. These stands may be harvested as soon as they achieve the “mature forest habitat” definition, as long as 50% of the conserved land is maintained as “mature.”

After the mature forest goal is reached, clearcutting or other heavy harvesting could occur on thousands of acres every 10 years. Because the landowner — Weyerhaeuser — owns several hundred thousand acres in the vicinity, any reductions in harvesting within the conservation area can simply be offset by cutting more heavily nearby. As a result, the net
mature-forest benefit of the conservation area will be close to zero.

Third, because some mature stands will be cut before the 50% mature forest goal is reached, it will take 40 years — longer than necessary — to reach the goal.

In the near future the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will consider an appeal from environmental organizations of the plan approval. To ensure that ecologically mature forest develops in a manner that meets the intent of the DEP/BEP orders, several things need to change.

First and most important, to ensure that characteristics of mature forest habitat have time to develop it is critical that the definition include clear requirements for the minimum number of large-diameter (hence more mature) trees, adjusted by forest type. At least half the stocking of an area of mature forest habitat should be in trees at least 10 inches in diameter, and at least 20% of stands beyond the riparian buffers should have half the stocking in trees greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter.

Current research as well as guidelines for defining ecologically mature forests, such as those in Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds, should be followed.

Second, limits should be placed on the size and distribution of clearcut or “shelterwood” harvest patches so that even-aged harvests are similar in size to those created by typical natural forest disturbance patterns. These changes will help ensure that the mature-forest block and connectivity requirements of the orders are met.

Third, because the forest impacts have already occurred, no cutting should be allowed in the few stands that meet or exceed the DEP-approved definition — which needs to be revised as described above — until the 50% or greater mature-forest goal is reached.

If allowed to stand, the definitions and management described in the forest management plan would set a terrible precedent for conserving mature forests in Maine. The BEP should uphold the appeal and establish standards for truly mature forest habitat.

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Massachusetts

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Published

1 hour ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Foul play suspected after human remains found in water in Shirley

Human remains were discovered Wednesday in the water in Shirley, Massachusetts, and authorities suspect foul play.

Police in Shirley said in a social media post at 7:15 p.m. that they responded to “a suspicious object in the water near the Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge on Shaker Road.” Massachusetts State Police later said the object was believed to be human remains.

The bridge crosses Catacoonamug Brook near Phoenix Pond.

The office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said a group of young people was walking in the area around 5:30 p.m. and “reported seeing what appeared to be something consistent with a body part in the water.”

Foul play is suspected, Ryan’s office said.

Authorities will continue investigating overnight into Thursday, and an increased police presence is expected in the area.

No further information was immediately available.

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