A baby-faced 11-year-old accused of executing his adoptive father after he took away his Nintendo Switch was hauled into court in handcuffs on Thursday.
Clayton Dietz is being charged as an adult with criminal homicide after he shot his father dead in his bed on Jan. 13 — the child’s birthday — in Duncannon, Penn., north of Harrisburg.
The bespectacled boy, surrounded by probation officers, appeared to be tripping over himself as he walked into the Perry County Courthouse for a hearing Thursday afternoon, shocking video from WHP shows.
Clayton, who was adopted in 2018, shot his 42-year-old Douglas Dietz with a revolver he found in the dad’s safe, according to prosecutors.
He told police he found the keys to the gun safe while searching for the game system, which his parents had confiscated and locked with the firearm, authorities said.
Police responded to the home around 3:20 a.m. and found the Dietz with a gunshot wound to his head — and the 11-year-old screaming at the top of his lungs, according to court documents.
“Daddy’s dead,” the boy was shrieking and was overheard telling his mother “I killed Daddy,” documents said.
He allegedly admitted to “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed” before “he pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father,” the affidavit stated.
After the shooting, police asked Clayton what he believed would occur when he fired the revolver.
He allegedly said he was mad and didn’t think about what would happen
Dietz’s wife told police she woke up to a loud noise and smelled something similar to fireworks.
When she nudged Dietz awake and he didn’t budge, she recalled hearing something like water dripping — only to realize it was his blood seeping through the sheets.