ELLENDALE, Del. (WKRC) – A Maryland hunter has been charged with manslaughter after Delaware State Police said he mistook a 39-year-old woman for a deer and fatally shot her in an open field.
Troopers responded around 7:40 p.m. Sept. 18 to a field in Ellendale. They found Maria Chilel Soto, of Georgetown, Delaware, who had been shot. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Police said Chilel Soto was walking through the field with a man and two children when Walter Moorhead, 74, of Salisbury, Maryland, fired his rifle from a ground blind while hunting deer.
Moorhead told investigators he believed he saw a deer, according to police. Troopers said he was taken into custody at the scene.
He is charged with manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. Moorhead was released after posting $43,000 cash bond.
The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit continues to investigate.