74-Year-Old Charged After Shooting Woman He Believed Was Deer in Delaware
Delaware State Police say a 74-year-old man was arrested and charged with manslaughter after he fired his rifle at a woman he thought was a deer while hunting from a ground blind.
Delaware State Police arrested Walter Moorhead, 74, of Salisbury, Maryland, on Friday evening after a 39-year-old woman was shot in an open field near Ellendale. Troopers provided medical aid before the victim, identified as Santos Maria Chilel Soto of Georgetown, Delaware, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to investigators, Soto was walking with a man and two children when Moorhead, who was hunting from a camouflaged ground blind, believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking her. Police said Moorhead faced charges of manslaughter, reckless endangerment and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was released on a $43,000 cash bond.
Moorhead has not responded to a request for comment, and it is unclear whether he has retained legal counsel.