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Hunter Fatally Shoots Woman He Mistook for a Deer, Delaware Police Say
Police said the hunter mistook the woman for a deer and fired from a ground blind, and the homicide unit is still investigating.
- On Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, 74-year-old Walter Moorhead fatally shot 39-year-old Santos Maria Chilel Soto in an open field near Ellendale, Delaware, after police say he mistook her for a deer.
- Firing from a camouflaged ground blind, Moorhead allegedly believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle while Soto walked through the field with a man and two children.
- Moorhead faces felony charges of manslaughter, possession of a firearm during a felony, and three counts of first-degree reckless endangerment; he posted a $43,000 cash bond and was released.
- Soto's family launched a GoFundMe campaign for funeral costs and transport to Guatemala, raising approximately $795 of a $6,500 goal to support her five children.
- The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit continues investigating the shooting, which recalls a similar Iowa incident about a year ago and underscores ongoing concerns about hunter target identification.
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Hunter Charged After Fatally Shooting Woman Mistaken for Deer
A 74-year-old Maryland man hunting from a ground blind in a Delaware field fired his rifle at what he told police he believed was a deer, and killed a 39-year-old mother of five who was walking nearby with a man and two children. Walter Moorhead, of Salisbury, Maryland, now faces felony manslaughter, possession of a […]
Walter Moorhead, 74, was charged with manslaughter after he shot at a woman he would have confused with a deer
·Los Angeles, United States
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Total News Sources126
Leaning Left13Leaning Right11Center62Last UpdatedBias Distribution72% Center
Bias Distribution
- 72% of the sources are Center
72% Center
15%
C 72%
13%
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