A 74-year-old Maryland hunter has been charged with manslaughter after fatally shooting a mother of five he mistook for a deer in a Delaware field.
Walter Moorhead, 74, of Salisbury, Maryland, was arrested Friday evening following the death of Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, in Ellendale, according to the Delaware State Police. The shooting occurred around 7:40 p.m. As Soto walked through an open field with a man and two children.
Moorhead was positioned in a ground blind, a camouflaged structure used to conceal hunters from game animals, when he believed he spotted a deer and fired his rifle, police said. The bullet struck Soto instead.
Troopers responded to the field and attempted to provide life-saving care to Soto before she was transported to an area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, authorities said.
Moorhead now faces multiple felony charges, including manslaughter recklessly causing the death of another person, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Soto, who lived in Georgetown, Delaware, was a mother of five children and a “beloved aunt,” according to a GoFundMe campaign established to raise money to send her body back to Guatemala.
“This heartbreaking situation has placed a heavy financial burden on the family at a time when they are grieving deeply,” the fundraiser stated.
The family has turned to crowdfunding to cover the costs of returning Soto to her home country for burial, highlighting the cross-border impact of the tragedy. Soto’s presence in the field with two children and another adult at the time of the shooting underscores the circumstances that led to the reckless endangerment charge alongside the manslaughter count.
Moorhead was released after posting a $43,000 cash bond, according to authorities. The case now moves through the Delaware justice system as Soto’s family grapples with both their loss and the logistical challenges of arranging her final journey home.
The charges against Moorhead reflect the legal consequences hunters face when their actions result in civilian casualties, particularly in areas where residential and recreational spaces overlap with hunting grounds. Delaware law enforcement has not indicated whether additional charges or civil proceedings may follow.
Moorhead has not publicly commented on the shooting through any social media platform or statement to the press.