A 74-year-old Maryland hunter was recently charged with manslaughter after allegedly shooting a woman in Delaware. He says he mistook her for a deer.
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The Woman Was Walking Through a Field
As reported by ABC News, Walter Moorhead was hunting around 7:40 p.m. on the night of Friday, Sep. 18, in a field near Ellendale, Delaware. That is where state police say he shot 39-year-old Santos Maria Chilel Soto of Georgetown, Delaware.
"The preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was walking through the field with a man and two children while Moorhead was hunting deer from a ground blind. Moorhead believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking the victim," said the Delaware State Police in a statement.
Authorities say troopers were called to the scene to provide medical care to Soto. She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
State troopers took in the hunter after a preliminary investigation showed "that he had fired the shot that struck the victim."
The Hunter Was Charged With Felony Manslaughter
State police charged Moorhead with felony manslaughter, three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, and a count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The Justice of the Peace Court arraigned Moorhead. He posted a $43,000 bond and was then released. ABC News reports it is unclear whether the hunter had hired an attorney.
The Delaware State Police say the shooting is under investigation. It asks that anyone with information contact its homicide unit at 302-741-2729.
A similar incident occurred in Iowa last year. A teenager was shot while hunting for squirrels in Brighton, a rural community outside Iowa City. Officials say a fellow member of the hunting party mistook 17-year-old Carson Ryan for a squirrel.
Ryan, a member of his school's track and field team, was "struck in the back of the head." He was transported to a nearby medical facility and died from his injuries later that day.
