Hunter says he mistook mother for deer — now he faces manslaughter charge

BS BULLETIN:

Delaware State Police say Walter Moorhead, 74, fatally shot Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, after mistaking her for a deer.
Soto was crossing an open field with a man and two children when Moorhead fired from a ground blind.
Moorhead faces felony manslaughter, a firearm charge and three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

A Maryland hunter who told police he thought he was firing at a deer instead killed a 39-year-old mother walking across a Delaware field, authorities say.

Walter Moorhead, 74, of Salisbury, Maryland, was hunting near Ellendale on Friday evening when Santos Maria Chilel Soto crossed the field with a man and two children, according to Delaware State Police.

Police said Moorhead was positioned in a ground blind when he believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle.

The bullet struck Soto.

Troopers responded around 7:40 p.m. and provided emergency medical care before Soto was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Court documents cited by the Delaware News Journal add another detail: Moorhead was reportedly hunting under a crop-damage permit and told investigators he thought he saw a doe moving through the field through his rifle scope.

After firing, Moorhead reportedly approached the spot where he thought the deer had fallen and discovered Soto instead.

Delaware’s deer-damage programs can allow antlerless deer to be harvested outside the normal hunting season under certain permits and conditions.

Police arrested Moorhead and charged him with felony manslaughter for recklessly causing another person’s death, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

He was arraigned and released after posting a $43,000 cash bond.

Soto, of Georgetown, Delaware, was later identified by state police. Fox News reports that a fundraiser organized for her family described her as a mother of five and said the family hopes to return her body to Guatemala for burial.

The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit says its investigation remains ongoing.

MY QUICK TAKE

There are gun accidents, and then there is firing a rifle at something you haven’t positively identified.

Every responsible hunter knows the rule because it isn’t complicated: know your target and know what is beyond it.

A woman was walking across an open field with two children. Whatever the criminal courts ultimately decide about Walter Moorhead, politically this is exactly the kind of case responsible gun owners should refuse to shrug off. The Second Amendment argument has always been strongest when paired with an equally serious argument about responsibility.

Rights don’t become stronger when responsibility gets weaker.