Without a doubt, kids do say the darndest things, but all too often, kids also do the darndest things. For example, Mr. Linkletter’s youngest daughter Diane jumped out of a sixth floor window at her Shoreham Towers West Hollywood digs in 1969 
when she was 20 years old and did not survive the fall. Mr. Linkletter blamed her death/suicide on the fact that she had taken LSD on several occasions prior to jumping. Mr. Linkletter theorized that Diane had taken LSD the night before she jumped but toxicology tests proved this to be false. What is known is that she was extremely despondent during the period preceding her death. It may be no coincidence that Mr. Linkletter’s House Party ended in 1969, the same year his daughter died.
It seems that on Wednesday, February 4th, for unknown reasons, Maxwell shot and killed 16-year-old Ryan Mangan, also of Jeannette, at Ryan’s house, apparently with a 9 mm handgun. At present, the authorities do not know why Maxwell shot Ryan. What is known is that after shooting Ryan and before fleeing the crime scene, Maxwell took a selfie of him (shooter) and the deceased teen (victim), who was reportedly propped up in a chair. With the wisdom of youth operating overtime, Maxwell then sent the picture via Snapshot to a friend. Although Snapshot images, once viewed, apparently fade quickly into nothingness, the recipient — perhaps shocked by what he had received — had the presence of mind to save the image which he later showed to his mother.Ms. Daly writes:
Rebecca Murtland, Ryan’s mother, first contacted police at about 6 p.m. Wednesday saying she had found her son dead, with a gunshot wound in the face. A detective found a 9 mm shell casing at the scene, but no gun. Also found on the victim’s phone was a photo of himself holding a semiautomatic handgun, police said.
On Thursday, the mother of the young man who received the selfie came forward and reported that “her son had a copy of a Snapchat photo sent from the accused.” Sgt. Donald Johnston of the Jeannette police department must have done a double take when he saw the photo, which “depicted the wounded victim in the chair” just as his mother found him. Perhaps our young genius wanted to get caught; in any event, he was front and center in the selfie with the victim in the background. Just to help with the identification, the name “MAXWELL” was emblazoned across the top of the photo.
The, selfie recipient had apparently divulged everything to his mother; she informed the authorities that her son received telling messages from the killer, saying things like: “Told you I cleaned up the shells” and “Ryan was not the last one.” Thus, a reasonable interpretation of the message would be that Maxwell intended to go on a killing binge.
With such solid evidence, it was a snap for law enforcement to obtain a search warrant for Maxwell’s home; and sure enough there was the smoking gun, literally, tucked away under the steps in the basement. Maxwell was advised of his rights with his parents present, and then he confessed, stating that he shot Ryan Mangan, “leaving the victim dead in his room.”
Westmoreland County detectives and Jeannette police have charged Maxwell with criminal homicide, first-degree murder and illegally possessing a 9 mm handgun. He was arraigned, denied bail and is being held in the county jail with a preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 19.A psychological evaluation will undoubtedly be performed, and Maxwell will need all the help he can get, given that he may well be tried as an adult. Or as the old saying goes, “Kids do the darndest things.”