True Crime Society - Clayton Dietz (11) allegedly murdered his father after his Nintento Switch was taken away

In this blog, we are going to discuss some cases of Kids Who Kill.

The first case is from January 2026. Clayton Dietz (11) allegedly shot and killed his father Douglas (42) after he had his Nintendo Switch taken away. Just to note, Clayton has been publicly identified by the media and in legal documents, which is why we are using his name, despite him being a minor.

Douglas and his wife Jillian were living on South Market Street in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. They adopted Clayton in 2018 – he was 3 years old at the time. There is little information available about the adoption. Douglas did have children from a previous marriage, but Clayton is not a child of his first wife.

Douglas’ first marriage was said to be volatile. In January 2015, his first wife filed a protection from abuse order against him after an argument involving their three children. His wife alleged that she suffered severe abuse and that she ‘felt trapped and coerced into a relationship that began when she was 16 years old.’ The order remained in place for three years.

According to an article by the Daily Voice, in the months prior to January 2026, Clayton’s parents had asked the Susquenita School District for help. They wrote a letter saying that Clayton had been diagnosed with autism and was experiencing escalating behavioural issues, including sexual harassment, aggression and theft.

Jillian and Douglas requested a referral to a behavioural and educational centre. They said they have requested a referral in the past but had been denied as he ‘did not meet the criteria.’

Clayton’s parents said that ignoring their efforts to seek help was not only negligent, ‘it was dangerous.’

They also wrote that refusal to make a referral could violate Pennsylvania Criminal Code statutes involving child abuse and endangering the welfare of children. They said that if Clayton’s behaviour escalated due to lack of help, the district could be held criminally liable.

Clayton’s 11th birthday was January 13, 2026. Jillian made a post on social media and wrote that her ‘sweetest, smart, brave, MOUTHY little boy was turning 11.’ Jillian has said that she and Douglas stayed up until after midnight to wish him a happy birthday, and then they went to bed.

Jillian said that she went to sleep and she was awoken a few hours later by a loud noise. She said she smelled something similar to fireworks. She tried to nudge Douglas but he didn’t move. She then heard what she thought was water dripping. Jillian turned on the light and realized that it wasn’t water dripping, but blood.

Jillian called 911 at around 3.20am. Officials found Douglas dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

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.”

Clayton told police that he had a good day with his parents. “When his dad told him he needed to go to bed, he got mad at him,” court documents state.

When police asked Clayton what happened, he said, “I shot somebody,” according to the affidavit. “He admitted that he had someone in mind whom he was going to shoot, whom he identified as his father,” the documents said.

Jillian told police that they had a gun safe in the bedroom but that she did not know where the key was kept.

Clayton said he had found the key in Douglas’ drawer and he had unlocked the gun safe in an attempt to find his Nintendo Switch. His parents had previously taken the console away from him.

Clayton admitted to “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed,” the affidavit stated. “He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father.”

When police asked Clayton what he thought would happen when he fired the gun, he said that “he was mad, and he had not thought about that,” investigators stated.

Jillian also told police that Clayton told her “I killed my dad. I hate myself.”

Authorities noted that Clayton had a “large contusion” above his left eye and a small laceration near the middle of his lower lip.

According to state police, Clayton was taken into custody and charged with criminal homicide.

Clayton was denied bail and is being held at the Perry County Prison. A hearing was originally scheduled for January 22, 2026, but it has been postponed to February 19, 2026.

The second case we are going to discuss involves Nevada man Adrian Bailey (27). He allegedly beat his parents Kristine and Roger to death with a baseball bat in December 2025.

Kristine and Roger had been married for 32 years at the time of their murders.

Roger loved walking, swimming, reading, watching movies, and time spent with Kristine, his family, and their beloved Labradane, Rocky. He had worked for the Las Vegas public works department for 33 years.

Deputy City Manager Rosa Cortez, who oversees the public works department, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal she met Roger as a UNLV civil engineering student through an internship with the city in the ’90s. She described him as a mentor whose death came as a shock.

“Roger was a very kind man. He genuinely cared about everyone and he also had a little bit of humor when he would talk. He was funny on occasion and just very sweet,” Rosa said.

Kristine was deeply devoted to the life of the church, especially in her love for children. She served faithfully in Sunday school and children’s ministry almost every week.

At around 11.30pm on December 27, Adrian called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He told the dispatcher that he had murdered his parents and that he ‘ couldn’t take it anymore.’

He told the dispatcher that he needed to be ‘taken in for murder.’ He also said that he had ‘ killed them; and that ‘ there was blood everywhere and that he did not mean to.’

Officers left to respond to the call which was made from a residence in the 6400 block of New Brunswick Avenue. Adrian called 911 again from a different area before they could arrive at the home. In this call, Adrian said that “officers need to kill him on sight” because he was a danger to himself and others, adding, “I have done it,” the report said. When a dispatcher asked if Adrian had shot himself, he said “he hadn’t killed himself yet, but had ‘done some others.’”

Adrian added that he had left his residence without his glasses and had been drinking alcohol, but had not used any drugs. The report said Adrian was “hysterical” and yelling, asking for police to “kill him on sight.” He told dispatch he killed his dad, saying “he did not mean to, but he had enough abuse.”

At around 11.45pm, officers arrived at the second location and took Adrian into custody. He had blood on his skin and his clothes.

When police arrived at the Bailey home, they found Roger and Kristine in the living room with ‘life threatening injuries.’ Roger was pronounced dead at the scene. Kristine was taken to hospital where she passed away.

Police found a child-sized baseball bat at the top of the stairs in the home – it was covered in blood. Blood spatter at the scene showed that one of the victims was hit with the bat while on the stairs, and both victims were hit in the living room.

“It affected me so bad, because you know, I’ve known them forever,” neighbor Virginia Zimmermen told 8 News Now. “I was stunned too. It makes me, you know, want to cry. They told us a long time ago that they were having issues with him.”

Adrian’s next court appearance – a preliminary hearing – is scheduled for February 11, 2026.

The third case is a doozy. Wisconsin woman Carrie Zettel (64) was murdered by her daughter Lauren Spors (29) in October 2025. Carrie believed that Lauren killed her husband/Lauren’s father Jeff in 2018. Lauren is said to suffer from schizophrenia.

As some background into Carrie, she was born in July 1961. She had three children – Jessica, Alex and Lauren and had two grandchildren.

Carrie and Jeff first met in high school and they reconnected in 1990. According to Carrie’s obituary the two spent many happy years together until Jeff’s passing in 2018.

Some info from her obituary:

Throughout her life, Carrie enjoyed many activities including gardening, enjoying nature, buying gifts for her grandchildren, biking, participating in political discourse, and spoiling her dog Bebe.

Most of all, Carrie was a helper to others in need – the weakest and most marginalized in our society – Her incredible generosity often came at great personal sacrifice to herself: She was never shy to cover your bill, even if she was short on money; she would help you shoulder a burden, no matter how heavy it was. She was a good Samaritan to all who crossed her path.

Jeffrey died in January 2018 from what was ruled an accidental overdose. He and Lauren had been noted to have a tumultuous relationship – Lauren would have been around 23 years old at this time.

After Jeff’s death, we learned some information about the days before he died. Carrie told the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office that Lauren had “hit the decedent over the head with two glass bottles.”

Carrie also told authorities that Lauren would stomp on Jeff’s head and bite him.

Jeff refused to press any charges against Lauren following the attack. “He didn’t believe that she belonged in jail,” family friend Loretta Moyer said. “He believed she belonged somewhere to get help for her mental illness, and so did Carrie.”

The report did also note that Jeff was “was known to over medicate on his pain prescriptions.”

Loretta said that as soon as authorities found out about Jeff’s medication usage, they developed tunnel vision in their investigation. “As soon as Carrie told the detectives Jeff was on medication, their whole thing just switched,” Loretta said. “They didn’t care about anything else. It was just because he was taking pain medication.”

Jeff’s body was found in a park less than one mile from the family home. He was found three days after the bottle attack and he still had staples in his head from the bottle assault.

Jeff was known to walk or cycle through the park when he was upset. Carrie had said that Jeff hadn’t been acting like himself following the bottle attack.

Within three months of Jeff’s death, Lauren had been served with a domestic violence restraining order and she was charged twice with violating it. Both times, she was found incompetent to stand trial.

During the court proceedings in 2018, Lauren told the court “I haven’t accepted my dad’s death. My mom says I killed him, but I don’t remember doing it.”

Lauren spent the next seven years in and out of mental health facilities.

There are also records of Lauren violating the protective order against her in March and April of 2018.

Lauren was charged with misdemeanor battery and theft in June 2020. This happened after an incident where she threw rocks through the window of Carrie’s house at 2am. When she was arrested by police, it was noted that she appeared lethargic. After being screened for drugs, she tested positive for THC, cocaine, and methamphetamine. That case was discharged after she was found incompetent to stand trial.

Records note that police responded 44 times in the last five years alone to Carrie’s home, with the reasons ranging from “family trouble” to “abuse” and “threats.” There are 10 calls listed as “violation of a restraining order.”

Weeks before her October 2025 murder, Loretta said “Carrie even said, she goes, ‘Maybe if she kills me, she’ll get the help she needs. Carrie was hopeless at this point.”

Early in the morning of October 12, 2025 (the day of the murder), Lauren showed up to Carrie’s home at around 3am. Carrie called Loretta about the situation.

“Lauren was here just now, pounding on the doors, the windows. I called 911,” Carrie’s voice said on the voicemail. “The police came, and they caught her under a tarp and she ran away, so I don’t know. They’re still here. They’re gonna try to look for her.”

Her mother told police at that time that Lauren had been staying in a hotel room for a few weeks, but kept getting kicked out for being disorderly.

“My poor baby, hey, I’m afraid of her,” Carrie said. “I’m afraid of her.”

“She doesn’t have a place to live,” Carrie told police from her front door. “She can’t live with me because she’s too violent. She tried breaking in.”

“We can’t force her to get some help,” one officer said. “Like my partner said, we can go catch up to her and see if she’s willing to get some help.”

“Voluntarily,” the other officer chimes in.

Police then appear to discuss how to get her mental health help with Carrie. However, MPD muted some of the audio for medical privacy.

“See if she wants to get help or not, at least offer that to her,” police said.

“Stay there until Monday, then maybe we can get her in a bed somewhere, you know,” Carrie responded.

On October 12, 2025 at 2.06pm, Carrie called 911 and said that Lauren was ‘being violent.’

When police arrived 14 minutes later, they found Carrie with “severe trauma to her head with brain matter visible” covered in blood. It is believed that her trauma was caused by injuries from a rock. She was pronounced dead a few minutes later.

Officers arrested Lauren, covered in what was believed to be the victim’s blood.

Lauren was charged with first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic abuse threat modifier.

On November 21, 2025, a judge ruled that Lauren is not competent to stand trial and that court proceedings have been suspended. She will be committed to the Department of Health and Family Services (DHS) for institutional care.

A court hearing for a doctor’s report is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2026.

A sad excerpt from Carrie’s obituary – In lieu of flowers, memorials to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) are appreciated.

The final case we are going to discuss is a very high profile one – the murders of Hollywood actor/ director Rob Reiner (78) and his wife Michele (70) . They were allegedly murdered in December 2025 by their son Nick Reiner.

Rob was born in March 1947 to Estelle and Carl Reiner. Some of the films he directed include Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, and The American President. He acted in films including Sleepless in Seattle, The First Wives Club and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Rob was married for the first time in 1971, to Penny Marshall., He adopted Penny’s daughter, Tracy. The couple divorced in 1981.

Michele Singer was born in March 1955. Michele worked as a photographer and a film producer, as well as being a political activist. She met Rob while they were working on When Harry Met Sally. They were married in 1989.

The couple had three children together – Jake, Nick and Romy.

Jake has also entered the world of filmmaking and was a news reporter in Houston, Texas. Romy is also a filmmaker and was said to have been very close with her parents.

Nick was born on September 14, 1993 in Los Angeles.

Nick was a troubled child and teen. He first went into rehab for drugs at the age of 14.

In 2016, Nick co-wrote a movie, which Rob directed, loosely based on that difficult period in their lives. Being Charlie not only explored the complicated dynamics between a famous father and his son struggling with addiction, but also the reservations Nick had about rehabilitation facilities.

“The program works for some people but it can’t work for everybody,” Rob told the Los Angeles Times in September 2015. “When Nick would tell us that it wasn’t working for him, we wouldn’t listen. We were desperate and because the people had diplomas on their wall, we listened to them when we should have been listening to our son.”

“We were so influenced by these people,” Michele added. “They would tell us he’s a liar, that he was trying to manipulate us. And we believed them.”

Nick told the media in 2016 (he would have been around 23) that he had been in rehab 17 times and had experienced homelessness after he refused to re-enter facilities.

“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” he said. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”

In 2020, Nick was cycling through homelessness, addiction and refusal of treatment. A friend said “Nick couldn’t take care of himself. He was living on the streets, doing drugs, not eating and refusing rehab all in the height of COVID.”

The family pursued a court-ordered mental health conservatorship at that time.

The legal arrangement stripped Nick of control over his medical care and finances under California’s Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.

The law allows court oversight when someone is unable to provide basic needs due to mental illness.

In Los Angeles County, the Office of the Public Guardian evaluates such cases before a judge appoints a conservator.

Licensed fiduciary Steven Baer was named Nick’s conservator, placing strict monitoring, testing, and medication compliance into effect.

After the conservatorship was imposed, a friend said “He seemed better, but that’s because he was being drug-tested and taking his meds.”

“Nick hated being under someone’s thumb. He considered it beneath him. It was a huge blow to his ego, and embarrassing,” a source said.

The conservatorship lasted for one year and it was not renewed as Nick was said to be considered stable at that time.

Nick quickly returned to his troubled ways.

“That all pretty much changed,” the source said. “He started back with his old ways. Smoking weed.”

Nick was adamant that he would not tolerate another conservatorship being put in place.

“Any mention or talks about being placed under another conservatorship would have set Nick off. All hell would have broken loose,” a friend said.

Reports indicate that in December 2025, Nick was living in his parents’ guest house. A source has said that Nick had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. “Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia just weeks before the stabbings and was under close psychiatric care.”

The source said, “Nick’s symptoms took a turn for the worse after doctors adjusted his medication before the killings, which the family believes, triggered increasingly concerning behaviour.”

On the night of Saturday, December 13, 2025, Rob, Michele and Nick attended Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party. They got into an argument.

“Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous,” one source told PEOPLE.

“They got in an argument, the father and son [at the party]. It got so bad and loud [that] someone wanted to call the police to report it,” an insider told media.

“But Conan stepped in and said, ‘It’s my house, my party, I’m not calling the police.’ He talked them out of calling the police.”

“When the s**t was hitting the fan, somebody said, ‘We need to call the police.’ The conversation was about getting this kid put into a mental-health hold,” the source told the outlet.

“It makes sense; who wants the cops showing up creating a scene? But the argument between Rob and Nick was pretty intense.”

This quote comes from an unnamed source who was apparently at the party.

“I’m petrified of [Nick]. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m afraid of my son. I think my own son can hurt me,” the celebrity alleged Rob said.

The family left the party and went home.

The following day, December 14, Romy went to the home of her parents. A massage therapist had contacted her to say that they had an appointment with one of the Reiners and that they could not access the property.

Romy lived across the street from her parents so she went to their home to check on them. When she entered the property, she found her father’s body and ‘fled’ the scene. She allegedly did not see her mother’s body/did not know she was dead at the time. Romy ran to a friend for help and a 911 call was made at 3.38pm on December 14.

Death certificates from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department reveal the couple died within “minutes” of suffering “multiple sharp force injuries.” The documents, obtained by ABC News, also reveal they were cremated. The manner of death for both Rob and Michele was listed as homicide.

Nick was located by police that evening near the University of Southern California campus at around 9.15pm.

On Tuesday December 16, Nick was charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special allegation of using a knife. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

There is the chance the prosecutors could seek the death penalty for Nick, but the Reiner family are allegedly against this.

Another unnamed source said “The family feels this was all a massive failure in his care and they firmly believe he was seriously ill when he did this.”

The source added: “The last thing the Reiners want is another killing in the face of this unbelievable tragedy, and that the death penalty would only bring more pain.

“It won’t bring back Rob and Michele.”

Romy and Jake have issued a statement about the loss of their parents.

“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life.

“We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave,” Nick’s siblings said.

Nick was initially due to be represented by attorney Alan Jackson. In January 2026, that attorney withdrew from the case.

After speaking to the judge, Alan Jackson said in court that his legal team had “no choice” but to withdraw from the case.

The arraignment was subsequently pushed to February 23 2026.

According to People, Nick will now be represented by a public defender, Kimberly Green. He is being held on no bail.

A family spokesperson made a comment following the attorney’s withdrawal from the case.

“They have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings,” the spokesperson said.

TMZ have produced a special on the case, and according to them, Nick is not competent to stand trial.

“He is not competent to stand trial right now. He is almost childlike in jail, we’re told,” TMZ executive producer Harvey Levin told said.

“He can’t process the consequences of what he’s done. He knows what he did. He just can’t understand where he is right now, and I know that sounds crazy, but he is out of his head right now.”

Doctors had changed Nick’s medication a month before the murders due to his complaints of weight gain, and that adjustment “messed Nick up,” TMZ said, explaining that Nick was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder — which can cause delusions, hallucinations and mood disorders.

TMZ described the alleged murders as “incredibly brutal.”

“We know people in the medical examiner’s office who are traumatized just by the pictures,” Harvey said.

He claimed the killings had “all the markings of a meth murder” and that Nick had been using meth when he was “off the rails” after his medication switch-up, adding that he was arrested in a drug den.

“It has the markings of somebody who was just wild, wildly strong. We have not gotten the confirmation of that, but we’ve talked to people… If he were just Nick Reiner without something additional, the carnage wouldn’t have been the way it was,” Harvey said.

Psychiatric expert Dr Eugene Lucas has indicated he believes that the Conan O’Brien party argument could have triggered a psychotic break in Nick.

“That experience that [Reiner] had at that party… could’ve influenced the way he felt,” he said, adding, “Usually, the triggering event happens within 24 hours of whatever the behavior is.”

In the last few days, Nick’s former attorney Alan Jackson has spoken to the media about the case.

He has said that he believes Nick is not guilty of murder.

“I will stick by that,” he said. “I stand by it. I still believe it. I believed it then. I believe it now.

“Every day that goes by, I’m more solid in my belief that under the laws of this state, he’s not guilty. My hope is that the justice system sees its way clear to establish that.’

“There’s a lot to uncover, a lot of layers of the onion to peel back as it relates to, generally speaking, the mental health industry writ large here in the United States,” Alan said.

Alan has still not revealed his reason for dropping the case but did say on a podcast that the reason was not related to money.