A hunter named Walter W. Moorhead, 74, mistakenly shot and killed Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, while she was walking across a field in Ellendale, Delaware on September 18 at around 7:40 pm. The incident occurred when Moorhead fired his rifle from a ground blind, thinking he had spotted a deer. Soto, who lived in Georgetown and was described as a mother of five, was with her boyfriend and his two children at the time. Moorhead has been charged with manslaughter and other offenses but was released on bail. The shooting happened under Delaware’s crop damage permit program, which allows more frequent hunting to address agricultural losses.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-22,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September 18, 74-year-old Walter Moorhead from Salisbury, Maryland, was arrested after fatally shooting 39-year-old Santos Maria Chilel Soto, whom he mistook for a deer while hunting in Ellendale, Delaware. The incident occurred around 7:40 p.m., shortly after sunset, when Soto was walking through an open field with her boyfriend and two children. Moorhead had been hiding in a ground blind, a camouflaged structure used by hunters to conceal themselves from game animals, when he fired his rifle believing he saw a deer. He was charged with manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Bond for Moorhead was set at $43,000, and he was released pending further investigation. Soto, described as a beloved aunt and mother of five from Georgetown, Delaware, was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to a hospital.
Written for “Hunter Mistakes Woman For Deer” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.
Hunter mistook woman for deer in fatal US shooting, police say
Neil Vigdor
asserted
police → mistake → shooting
A hunter is facing a manslaughter charge in the US state of Delaware in the fatal shooting of a woman whom he mistook for a deer while she crossed an open field with three other people, the authorities said.
asserted
authorities → face → people
The man, Walter W. Moorhead, 74, fired his rifle from a ground blind, a tent, shed or other makeshift structure used by hunters to conceal themselves, when he struck Santos Maria Chilel Soto, 39, on a private property on the night of Sept 18 in Ellendale, Delaware, the Delaware State Police said.
asserted
Police → fire → Ellendale
Investigators said the shooting occurred around 7.40 pm local time, just over 30 minutes after sunset, in an area dotted with farms, about 120km south of Wilmington, Delaware, and west of Delaware’s well-known coastal resorts.
asserted
shooting → say → resorts
Soto, who a GoFundMe page said was a mother of five from Guatemala, was with her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s two children when she was shot, according to an arrest warrant.
uncertain
she → say → warrant
It was not clear why Soto, who lived in Georgetown, Delaware, was on the property.
asserted
who → live → property
The victim’s boyfriend told the police that the four of them had been walking together across the field when he heard an explosion and saw Soto fall to the ground with a gunshot wound to her torso, the warrant said.
asserted
warrant → tell → torso
An older white man, whom investigators identified as Moorhead, approached with a flashlight to search for the deer he thought he had shot, Detective M. Csapo of the Delaware State Police wrote in the warrant.
asserted
Csapo → identify → warrant
During an interview with police, the authorities said, Moorhead acknowledged that he had struck Soto.
asserted
he → say → Soto
Moorhead, of Salisbury, Maryland, was also charged with three counts of reckless endangering and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
asserted
Moorhead → charge → felony
He was released on a US$43,000 (S$54,900) cash bond.
asserted
He → release → bond
Efforts to reach Moorhead were not immediately successful on Sept 21.
asserted
Efforts → reach → Sept
It was not clear if he had a lawyer.
asserted
he → have → lawyer
Moorhead had been hunting under what is known in Delaware as a crop damage permit, Corporal Raushan Rich of the Delaware State Police said in an email on Sept 21.
asserted
Rich → hunt → Sept
The programme allows commercial farms that experience crop damage to hunt antlerless deer, specifically mature does, more frequently than under normal deer hunting regulations.
asserted
that → allow → regulations
The state, which expanded the programme in 2026, allows deer hunting from a half-hour before sunrise until a half-hour after sunset, which was about 7.06pm on Sept 18 in Ellendale.
asserted
which → expand → Ellendale
In Delaware, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control oversees hunting regulations.
asserted
Department → oversee → regulations
It did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sept 21 or provide a copy of the hunting permit associated with the farm where the shooting occurred.
asserted
shooting → respond → farm
Details about who owns the property were also not immediately available.
asserted
who → own → property
In a Facebook post on Sept 19, Iglesia de Dios Fuente de Verdad Delaware in Georgetown – a Pentecostal church – announced Soto’s death.
asserted
Verdad → announce → death
Organisers of the GoFundMe page were seeking donations to help return Soto’s body to Guatemala.
asserted
Organisers → seek → Guatemala
The Aporia
