Family walk ends in tragedy: Hunter says he mistook Georgetown woman for a deer

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Santos Maria Chilel Soto went for a walk with her family the evening of Sept. 18, and never came home.

The 39-year-old Guatemalan woman and Georgetown-native was the mother of five. Soto was walking through an open field near South Old State Road in Ellendale with her partner, Minibaldo Velásquez, and two of her children when she was allegedly shot by a hunting rifle, according to a Delaware State Police probable cause affidavit.

Delaware State troopers provided medical care before Soto was taken to Bayhealth Hospital in Milford, where she was pronounced dead.

Police arrested Walter Moorhead, a 74-year-old man from Salisbury, Maryland, who was hunting deer from a ground blind in the field.

Yolin Chilel Soto, Maria’s sister, spoke on the character of the woman and what she has meant to the community at-large.

“Mi hermana pues era una mujer que todo el mundo la quería, ella conoce muchísimo más gente. Hay mucha gente eh que incluso americanos”, Chilel Soto dijo. “Ella trabajaba de limpieza, muchos americanos que la conocen. Eh, nos han visitado y ellos no lo pueden creer. En realidad es algo sorprendente”.

“My sister was a woman everyone loved; she knew so many people. There were so many people, even Americans,” Chilel Soto said. “She worked as a cleaner, and many Americans knew her. They’ve visited us, and they can’t believe it. It’s truly amazing.”

According to court documents, Moorhead told investigators that he was hunting with a scoped rifle when he saw what he believed was a doe. He said the animal moved, so he repositioned himself and his rifle before firing toward what he said he thought was the deer.

Moorhead then walked toward where he had fired and told investigators he saw Soto with what appeared to be a gunshot wound, surrounded by Velásquez and the two children.

The affidavit states Velásquez was walking within an arm’s length of Soto when he heard what he described to police as an “explosion.” He then saw Soto fall to the ground and noticed blood coming from the front of her upper torso. He applied pressure to the wound and called 911.

Delaware State Police said troopers responded to the field at about 7:40 p.m. The department’s preliminary investigation found that Moorhead was hunting deer when he believed he saw a deer and fired his rifle, striking Soto.

Partner remembers their family walk

For Minivaldo Velásquez, the evening began as an ordinary family outing.

He told WHYY News that after eating dinner, Soto wanted to go to church, but the children did not want to go. She then asked him to accompany her for a walk.

“Nosotros fuimos ahí como a las 6:40 p.m. y pues estacionamos la camioneta y [ella] dijo, ‘vamos a bajarnos a caminar’”, Velazquez dijo. “Estábamos caminando cerca entre un field, pero un field que ya no tiene plantación de maíz, ya el maíz piscaron todo eso, pues ahí camina mucha gente. Ella vestía su blusa amarilla y yo vestía una camiseta azul”.

“We got there around 6:40 p.m. and parked the truck, and she said, ‘Let’s get out and walk,’” Velazquez said. “We were walking near a field, but a field that no longer has corn planted; the corn had already been harvested. A lot of people walk there. She was wearing her yellow blouse, and I was wearing a blue T-shirt.”

That alleged timing differs from the timeline outlined in court documents. Delaware State Police said the shooting was reported at approximately 7:40 p.m., while the probable-cause affidavit places the alleged offense within a window of 7:38 p.m. to 7:42 p.m.

WHYY News visited the area around the same time of day the following week to observe the conditions at the scene. Around 6:40 p.m., the field and surrounding area were still visible. Vehicles could be seen traveling along Route 113, and the roads surrounding the corn field, including South Old State Road and East Robbins Road, were visible from the area.

As evening arrived, the amount of natural light changed. By around 7 p.m., it was noticeably darker across the field.

Velásquez disputes the explanation that Moorhead mistook Soto for a deer.

“No hay ninguna excusa, eso son excusas que no son inaceptables, no tiene sentido. Yo nunca he visto un venado de dos patas”, dijo. “Nosotros íbamos platicando, hablando, no tiene sentido, no”.

“There’s no excuse, those are unacceptable excuses, they don’t make sense. I’ve never seen a two-legged deer,” he said. “We were just chatting, talking, it doesn’t make sense, no.”

“Ese fue un asesinato a sangre fría”, el añidio. “No es accidente, no es accidente, 100%”.

“That was a cold-blooded murder,” he added. “It wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t an accident, 100%.”

Police have said the preliminary investigation indicates Moorhead believed he was firing at a deer.

Victim’s sister wants changes to gun safety requirements

Chilel Soto said she is still struggling to understand how the shooting happened.

She questioned Moorhead’s explanation while acknowledging that she cannot know what was in Moorhead’s mind at the time.

“No podría meterme en la mentalidad de este señor, pero si este señor realmente no está acuerdo, no está bien de la mente, obviamente él va a inventar cualquier barbaridad, va a decir lo que él vio porque realmente es lo que está en su mente”, dijo Chile Soto.

“I couldn’t get inside this man’s head, but if this man really doesn’t agree, if he’s not right in the head, obviously he’s going to make up any nonsense, he’s going to say what he saw because that’s really what’s on his mind,” Chile Soto said.

Chilel Soto said she believes someone handling a firearm should first make sure of what they are shooting at.

“Que si fuera una persona cuerda, pues obviamente antes de disparar ellos deben de asegurarse que realmente es un animal y qué clase de animal”, ella dijo. “Porque no va a disparar a alguien, a algo, al azar solamente por diversión o realmente fue racismo. Eso precisamente es el tema de este punto”.

“If it were a sane person, then obviously before shooting they should make sure it really is an animal, and what kind of animal,” she said. “Because they’re not going to shoot someone, or something, randomly just for fun, or if it was really racism. That’s precisely the point here.”

She said she wants to see additional safeguards for people who carry firearms, including psychological evaluations before and after someone receives a gun.

“Que esta persona reciba ayuda psicológica antes de portar un arma y también que no solamente sea al principio, sino que tengan una continuidad”, ella dijo. “Que tengan una continuidad, que haya reglamentos nuevos en en el cuidado de ellos mismos, en el cuidado de sus propias familias, en el cuidado de la sociedad porque no sabemos cuando una persona puede estar cuerda o cuando ya no”.

“This person should receive psychological help before carrying a weapon, and not just at the beginning, but ongoing support,” she said. “They need continuity of care, new regulations regarding their own well-being, the well-being of their families and the well-being of society, because we don’t know when a person is sane or when they no longer are.”

Chilel Soto said she is not calling for people to be denied firearms altogether, but wants a process that continues after someone first receives one.

What Delaware hunting rules allow

WHYY News reached out to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to clarify whether deer hunting was permitted at the time of the shooting and whether a rifle could legally be used outside the state’s regular deer season.

In an email, DNREC said that hunting outside Delaware’s regular deer season is not, by itself, unlawful. Deer hunting with a general firearm is permitted statewide from Nov. 13 to 22, and from Jan. 16 to 24.

The agency said some properties are enrolled in the state’s Deer Damage Assistance Program, which authorizes the harvest of antlerless deer outside the regular season.

However, normal antlerless hunting is not permitted statewide until three weekends in October and from Dec. 12 to 20. But DNREC confirmed that a deer damage assistance permit is on file for the property where the shooting occurred.

Under the initiative’s Severe Deer Damage Assistance Program, free antlerless deer tags allow additional deer harvest from Aug. 15 through May 15. DNREC said that during that period, any weapon legal within the wildlife management zone where the property is located may be used to harvest an antlerless deer.

DNREC said whether the hunting in this case complied with the permit and state law is part of the active investigation.

Gov. Meyer meets with family as community calls for answers

The shooting has drawn attention from members of the Latino community in Sussex County and throughout the state. A petition calling for answers and action from state officials has also circulated following Soto’s death.

Gov. Matt Meyer and members of his team visited the family as they mourned Soto. WHYY News was present as Meyer was leaving the location.

According to the family, they told the governor they want the circumstances surrounding Soto’s death fully investigated and are seeking changes that they believe could make communities safer.

Chilel Soto said the family is not seeking revenge, but wants the law to determine what happens next.

“Yo sé que la justicia de Dios primeramente va a llegar en segundo … pero también hay leyes puesta por Dios y que los hombres deben de efectuar y que deben de llevar eh a luz todo esto”, ella dijo. “Y pues esperamos en el gobernador, en en lo que en lo que concierne a la ley, pues que lleven en claridad esto, que lo saquen a luz debido y conforme a las reglas de la ley. Que se haga lo que conviene y lo que le compete a la ley, que la ley misma establezca”.

“I know that God’s justice will come first and second … but there are also laws established by God that men must follow and that must bring all of this to light,” she said. “And so, we hope that the governor, in matters concerning the law, will clarify this, that he will bring it to light properly and in accordance with the rules of the law. That what is appropriate and what the law dictates, what the law itself establishes, will be done.”

Moorhead faces five alleged felony charges

Moorhead was arrested and charged with manslaughter, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felon and three counts of reckless endangerment.

According to state police, Moorhead was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court and released after posting a $43,000 cash bond.

A family left behind

For Chilel Soto’s family, the loss is being felt directly by the five children she leaves behind — four of whom live in the United States and one who remains in Guatemala — as well as the people who knew her as a mother, sister and partner.

Her family said they want answers about how a woman walking through a field with her family could have been mistaken for a deer, and they are asking authorities to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.

The family has also asked the community for support as they navigate the financial and emotional consequences of Soto’s death and care for her children. A GoFundMe has been established to help the family with expenses following her death.

A preliminary hearing for Moorhead is scheduled for Friday morning.