A heartbreaking story has unfolded in Huntington, Indiana, where a 34-year-old man, Matthew Joseph Dirig, has been sentenced to nearly four decades in prison for his role in the death of an 8-year-old boy. This tragic incident happened on November 22, 2022, and has left a community in shock.
On that day, Dirig picked up the boy from the Boys & Girls Club after he reportedly had a behavioral issue. When they got home, Dirig claimed the boy was acting aggressively, so he locked him in his bedroom. However, footage from a Ring camera told a different story—the boy appeared calm when he entered the house.
Dirig said he left the boy alone in the room for about two hours while he got caught up playing video games on his Xbox. He admitted to detectives, “I just got sidetracked,” acknowledging the grave consequences of his actions. Even when his girlfriend texted to ask how the boy was doing, Dirig didn’t check on him.
When the boy’s mother came home about 45 minutes later, she found him unresponsive with industrial-sized zip ties wrapped tightly around his neck. She called 911 while Dirig tried to remove the ties. Sadly, it was too late—the boy couldn’t be saved.
Investigators immediately noticed that while the boy’s mother and others were clearly devastated, Dirig showed little emotion. The mother shared that her son had struggled with mental health issues and occasional tantrums. She mentioned he had even shown suicidal tendencies in the past, including a frightening incident where he tied a phone cord around his neck. However, she also noted that his behavior had improved after starting new medication.
Dirig claimed the boy had wrapped the zip ties around his own neck in a suicide attempt. He explained that he worked in IT and used the zip ties for organizing cables and hanging lights, suggesting the boy might have found them in his room. But detectives weren’t convinced. They pointed out that it would have been difficult for a child to pull the zip ties tight enough to cause asphyxiation. They also questioned why Dirig, who worked with zip ties regularly, struggled to remove them.
Forensic evidence added more doubt to Dirig’s story. Investigators noted that the marks on the boy’s neck suggested someone had pulled the ties from behind, and tests showed how easily they could be removed with a simple tool. They also found the used zip ties discarded in the kitchen trash. Adding to the suspicion, Dirig refused to let police search his phone.
Family members of the boy and his mother raised concerns about Dirig’s behavior. They described him as manipulative and said he had pressured the mother to send her son to a mental institution, even threatening to leave her if she didn’t comply. They believed she was defending Dirig, despite their reservations about him. While the mother has not been charged, her family’s claims paint a troubling picture.
In court, Dirig was found guilty of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. On December 17, Huntington County Circuit Court Judge Davin G. Smith sentenced him to 40 years in prison, with two years suspended and credit for 26 days served.
This tragedy has left many questions unanswered, but it serves as a grim reminder of the importance of protecting vulnerable children. The boy’s name, along with his mother’s, has been withheld to respect their privacy.
