A 74-year-old Salisbury, Maryland, man has been charged with manslaughter and related offenses after Delaware State Police said he fatally shot a woman while hunting deer Friday evening in Ellendale.
According to police, troopers responded to an open field near South Old State Road, north of East Robbins Road, at approximately 7:40 p.m. on September 18 for a report of a woman who had been shot. Troopers provided medical care before the 39-year-old Georgetown, Delaware, woman was transported to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her identity has not been released pending notification of her family.
Investigators said Walter Moorhead, 74, of Salisbury, was hunting deer from a ground blind when the victim was walking through the field with a man and two children. According to the preliminary investigation, Moorhead believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking the woman.
Troopers contacted Moorhead at the scene and determined that he had fired the shot, police said. He was taken into custody, and the Delaware State Police Homicide Unit assumed the investigation.
Moorhead was charged with felony manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of another person, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and three felony counts of first-degree reckless endangering.
He was arraigned and released after posting a $43,000 cash bond.
