2002 HOMICIDE Victim's brother awaits progress

Family members have increased the reward for information to $10,000.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Zachary Baker sits at his kitchen table, sipping coffee and smoking a cigarette, thumbing through photocopies of news articles about his brother's death.
He wonders why there aren't more of them.
"It just seems like nothing is happening," said Baker, who lives on Youngstown's West Side. "Why isn't anything going on?"
Baker's brother, 30-year-old Kevin Dietz of Steel Street, was found dead Nov. 9, 2002, on Bundy Lane, which borders Weathersfield Township in Trumbull County and Austintown Township in Mahoning County. Baker said his brother was beaten and run over by a car.
The investigation originally was handled by Weathersfield police, but it was turned over to Austintown detectives in late January.
While the case was in Weathersfield's hands, a suspect was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. The charge against 39-year-old Clayton Booker of Liberty was dropped, though, when the case was sent across the county line.
Link to case
Booker became a suspect in the case after using his cellular telephone to call police and report finding Dietz's body. Weathersfield investigators at the crime scene figured Booker was driving the car that ran over Dietz.
Baker said he's been waiting nearly nine months for Mahoning County authorities to pick up where Trumbull left off and file a charge against Booker. So far, that hasn't happened.
"They had enough [evidence] to charge the man in Trumbull County. Why don't they now?" Baker said. "I just don't understand it."
Baker's family again has increased a reward it is offering for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Dietz's death. The reward, which started at $500, now stands at $10,000.
Baker said he thought the reward would generate interest when it was raised to $7,000 earlier this year.
"I got one call," he said, noting it was from a person inquiring about the well-being of Dietz's infant daughter, who was found abandoned in a yard on Lee Avenue the same night Dietz was found dead. Baker thinks his brother and the baby were kidnapped, though that's yet to be proved.
The baby has been placed in the custody of Dietz's mother-in-law, Baker said.
Prosecutor's response
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains said no charges have been filed because his office does not have enough evidence to move forward. Authorities are still waiting for more test results.
"It's been nine months," Baker said. "What the hell could take nine months?"
Hair samples that were found on the underside of Booker's car were sent away for testing, but it was determined that they didn't come from Dietz, Gains said.
Authorities also found a tire print on Dietz's chest where he was run over. That print has been sent for analysis to determine whether the tire was from Booker's car, but the results have not yet been returned to Austintown police, Gains said.
"At this point, we don't have the evidence to charge anyone in this case," the prosecutor added.
Baker said he hopes the increased reward will induce someone to come forward with information that could help authorities finally get over the hump and seek an indictment.
"I need closure," he said. "Time will never heal this wound without closure."
Anyone with information about the case can call Austintown police at (330) 799-9721, or contact Baker at (330) 559-1102.
bjackson@vindy.com