Photo: visualspace / E+ / Getty Images
A 74-year-old hunter from Maryland has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly shooting and killing a woman he mistook for a deer while hunting near Ellendale, Delaware.
According to the Delaware State Police, Walter Moorhead, of Salisbury, Maryland, was hunting from a ground blind in a field on Friday evening when he fired his rifle. Police said Moorhead believed he was aiming at a deer but instead struck Santos Maria Chilel Soto, a 39-year-old woman from Georgetown, Delaware, who was walking through the field with a man and two children.
Troopers responded to the scene around 7:40 p.m. and provided lifesaving medical care before the woman was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to 7News. Moorhead was taken into custody after a preliminary investigation determined he fired the fatal shot.
The Delaware State Police identified the victim as Santos Maria Chilel Soto on Sunday. Moorhead faces charges of felony manslaughter, three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Moorhead was arraigned and released after posting a $43,000 cash bond. Authorities said the investigation remains ongoing and are urging anyone with information to contact the Delaware State Police homicide unit.