This article has been updated with the name of the woman who was killed, additional information from court documents, an interview with the victim’s family and a statement from Gov. Matt Meyer.
ELLENDALE, Del. - A 74-year-old Salisbury man was charged with manslaughter after troopers said he shot and killed a woman Friday evening while hunting deer in Ellendale.
Court records say Delaware State Police responded shortly before 7:42 p.m. Sept. 18 to an open field on the east side of South Old State Road, just north of East Robbins Road. Santos María Chilel Soto, 39, originally from Guatemala, had a gunshot wound to her upper torso and was taken to Bayhealth Hospital in Milford, where she later died, according to court documents.
The family explained that they were taking a walk and were in the field to avoid busy traffic on the roadway. (Sharon López)
DSP said Walter Moorhead was hunting from a ground blind when he believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle. Chilel Soto had been walking through the field with a man and two children, police said. The family explained that they were taking a walk and were in the field to avoid busy traffic on the roadway.
It's not hunting season for rifles, but DNREC says the property where the shooting happened is enrolled in a Deer Damage Assistance Permit program. The program allows hunting to help reduce crop damage caused by deer, but only female deer can be taken.
"We were walking, and about five minutes later, we heard a sound that sounded like an explosion. Then she covered her ears and collapsed," Minibaldo Velásquez, Chilel Soto's boyfriend, told CoastTV News in Spanish. "I stayed kind of neutral because I said, 'What happened?' because we didn't see anything... it wasn’t an accident. An accident would have been if the bullet had hit any part of the body, but he shot her exactly in the stomach."
Velásquez added he was wearing a blue shirt, Chilel Soto was wearing a yellow blouse, and his two kids, ages 7 and 10, were also with them.
Troopers wrote that Moorhead later walked toward the area where he had fired and saw a person with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. According to court documents, Moorhead acknowledged that the person's wound resulted from a shot fired from his rifle.
"When I got there, the man was on the ground. It looked like he was sad about what happened," said Sharon López, Chilel Soto's daughter. "I don't know if it was on purpose or anything, but I mean, it doesn't seem right how he already got out."
DSP said Walter Moorhead was hunting from a ground blind when he believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle. Soto had been walking through the field with a man and two children, police said.
"I'm not going to find another woman like her. She was a special woman, and her children know it. Everyone who knew her knows that she was a very hardworking, very charismatic woman. She liked helping people and also serving God," Velásquez said.
López said her mom was her best friend, they did everything together, and that it's not fair that her mom was taken away from her and her four other siblings.
Moorhead was taken to Delaware State Police Troop 4 in Georgetown for questioning. He is charged with manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and three counts of first-degree reckless endangering, according to an arrest warrant and complaint filed in Delaware Justice of the Peace Court. He was released after posting a $43,000 cash bond.
Moorhead is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Sept. 25 in Sussex County Court of Common Pleas. The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit continues to investigate.
Gov. Matt Meyer released a statement Tuesday addressing the deadly shooting in Ellendale that killed 39-year-old Georgetown resident Santos Maria Chilel Soto.
Meyer said he was sending his "sincere and deepest condolences" to Chilel Soto’s children, family, friends, and everyone mourning her death. "Her life mattered and her family deserves answers about the circumstances that led to her death," Meyer said.
"I also recognize the grief and concern this tragedy has caused within our Latino community, particularly in Sussex County," Meyer said.
