Viewing, funeral services set for 10-year-old killed in Donegal Township

A funeral will be held this week for a 10-year-old Donegal Township boy who was stabbed to death Thursday.

Hunter Meyers was spending the night at 13-year-old James C. Campbell’s house in Donegal when, police said, James stabbed Hunter multiple times in the head.

Hunter was found dead in a bedroom about 6 a.m. He lived nearby, police said.

Viewings will be held from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Snyder-Green Funeral Home in Ligonier, Hunter’s mom, Dorothy Meyers, wrote on social media Sunday.

The funeral will be held 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home, she wrote.

A graveside service will follow at Brown Cemetery in Acme, according to an obituary. The Meyers family asked attendees to wear jeans, button-up shirts and boots in honor of the boy.

Hunter Meyers wanted to be a diesel mechanic and a police officer when he grew up, the obituary said.

Hunter enjoyed playing video games with his cousin, swimming, playing with toy Nerf guns, riding quads, spending time with his mom, siblings and their pets and going fishing with his uncle and his dad, Keith Meyers.

Hunter also liked going on walks to Donegal Lake with his sister, seeing the animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo and exploring the Carnegie Science Center, the obituary said. His favorite subject in school was math.

Dorothy Meyers wrote several posts on social media about her son, asking friends to spread his name.

“I just want our baby back!” she wrote Sunday.

An online fundraiser for the family brought in more than $19,000 by Monday afternoon.

After confessing to the stabbing during an interview with state police, according to authorities, James is charged as an adult with first-degree murder. He is the youngest person to be charged as an adult with homicide and first-degree murder in Westmoreland County in decades.

James is being held at the Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield, Director Rich Gordon said. He is the only youthful offender in the building’s secure area.

Bond was denied. A preliminary hearing is set forFriday.

Trooper Steve Limani said Monday a motive has not been determined.

“Right now, it’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Limani said.

Dorothy Meyers wrote on social media her son and James were best friends and cousins, although unrelated by blood.

“Our family lost two children on Thursday,” she wrote.

Dorothy Meyers urged friends in several social media posts not to express hatred toward James or his family.

“He showed absolutely no signs that anything was wrong,” she wrote.