An Illinois man has been taken into custody six weeks after fatally shooting his 14-year-old daughter while firing blindly into a structure in an attempt to kill a buzzard.
David Schultheis, 34, faces charges of reckless discharge of a firearm in connection with the July 21 incident that led to the death of Emma Schultheis, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
A second person, 58-year-old Karen Schwarze, has been charged with concealing a homicidal death an obstructing justice.
The sheriff’s department reported that deputies and emergency services were summoned to the scene at around 1:30 p.m. following the shooting. They discovered Emma Schultheis with a gunshot injury. She was transported to a St. Louis-area hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries despite ongoing medical efforts.
After over a month of investigation, detectives concluded their inquiry on August 26. They revealed that David Schultheis was aiming to eliminate a buzzard inside a brick building. In his attempt, he “inserted only his arm into the room — keeping his head outside the doorway to avoid potential ricochet — before firing” his handgun. The bullet hit the bird, passed through it, and exited through a window, subsequently striking Emma, who was outside.
Schultheis “knowingly and unlawfully discharged a firearm in a reckless manner, thereby endangering the bodily safety of another individual,” the department clarified.
Sheriff Neal Rohlfing told the Belleville News-Democrat that the shooting was “not intentional.”
“He was firing in an unsafe direction and made some poor choices in my opinion, and unfortunately, it resulted in his daughter’s death,” Rohlfing commented.
Schwarze — whose relationship with the suspect and the victim was not disclosed — “unlawfully concealed the death of Emma Schultheis, knowing that her death resulted from homicidal means,” the department said. She is also accused of trying “to influence others not to speak with law enforcement officers during the early stages of the investigation and hid the Taurus .40 caliber pistol Schultheis used in the shooting “with the intent to prevent the apprehension or prosecution of David Schultheis.”
Despite the “homicidal” nature of the teen’s death, her father was only charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.
Schultheis surrendered this week and was processed and released. Schwarze “is making arrangements to voluntarily surrender herself … in the near future.”
Emma Schultheis was a sophomore at Red Bud High School. She was shot to death six days before her 15th birthday.
