Maryland Hunter Charged With Manslaughter After Fatal Shooting

A 74-year-old Maryland hunter has been charged with manslaughter after fatally shooting a woman he allegedly mistook for a deer in a Delaware field. The incident occurred on the evening of September 18 in Ellendale, according to the Delaware State Police. The victim was identified as Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, of Georgetown, Delaware. Police said she was walking through an open field with a man and two children when the shooting took place. The hunter, Walter Moorhead of Salisbury, Maryland, was positioned in a ground blind when he allegedly believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking Soto. Emergency responders provided medical care at the scene before Soto was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Moorhead was taken into custody after troopers determined he had fired the fatal shot. Authorities charged Moorhead with felony manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of another person. He also faces charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.