North Dakota hunter charged with manslaughter after fatal shooting

A 74-year-old hunter, Walter Moorhead, has been charged with manslaughter following a fatal shooting in Ellendale, North Dakota. Authorities state that Moorhead, who was hunting from a concealed ground blind, mistook 39-year-old Santos Maria Chilel Soto for a deer and opened fire.

Soto, a resident of Georgetown and mother of five, was walking through an open field with her boyfriend and two children at the time of the incident. She was struck by a bullet and pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital.

Moorhead faces additional charges, including possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and three counts of first-degree reckless endangering. He was released after posting $43,000 in bail. Following the tragedy, the victim's family has launched a fundraising campaign to assist with the costs of repatriating her remains to Guatemala.