Inset: Walter Moorhead, identified by Delaware State Police. Background: The Ellendale field where Moorhead allegedly shot a woman he mistook for a deer (WCAU).
A 74-year-old Maryland hunter allegedly shot and killed a Delaware woman after mistaking her for a deer as she walked through an open field with her boyfriend and two young children, authorities said.
Walter Moorhead was arrested and charged with manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the death of 39-year-old Santos Maria Chilel Soto. He also faces three counts of first-degree reckless endangering related to the shooting.
Delaware State Police said in a press release that troopers were called at about 7:40 p.m. on Sept. 18 after reports that a woman had been shot in an open field near South Old State Road, north of East Robbins Road in Ellendale.
First responders performed lifesaving efforts at the scene before emergency medical crews took Soto to a nearby hospital. She was pronounced dead soon after arriving, police said.
Investigators said Soto had been crossing the field with her boyfriend and their two children while Moorhead was hunting deer from a ground blind, a concealed shelter designed to hide hunters from wildlife.
“Moorhead believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking the victim,” the police statement said.
Soto’s boyfriend, identified by Philadelphia NBC affiliate WCAU only as “Miniveldo,” told the station that the family was walking through the field when he suddenly heard a gunshot.
“All of a sudden I heard an explosion,” he said through a translator. “She had covered her ears and she fell.”
Soto’s daughter, who was at a nearby home, also heard the shot and reportedly rushed to her mother’s side.
“When I got there she was on the ground and she wasn’t like responding or anything,” the daughter told WCAU.
Police said Moorhead later walked toward the location where he thought he had fired at a deer and found Soto and the others instead. Miniveldo told WCAU that Moorhead initially attempted to leave, but stopped after being warned that police were on the way and that Miniveldo would not let him go.
State environmental officials told WCAU that deer hunting is permitted in the area under a program intended largely to address crop damage. However, officials said hunters must be individually approved and included on an authorized list.
Authorities had not immediately disclosed how far Moorhead was from Soto when he fired. It also remained unclear whether he was authorized to hunt in that location or whether he was legally permitted to hunt at that hour.
Moorhead was arraigned and released after posting a $43,000 cash bond, according to state police. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Sussex County Court of Common Pleas.
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