Man pleads guilty to fatally shooting deer hunter

ASHTABULA (AP) — An Ohio man has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting a deer hunter last November and for failing to report it.

The (Ashtabula) Star Beacon reports 41-year-old Darrell Shepard also pleaded guilty in northeast Ohio’s Ashtabula County on Monday to having a weapon as a convicted felon and injuring someone while hunting.

Prosecutors say Shepard killed 62-year-old Randy Gozzard, a Florida man hunting with a group that had permission from a property owner in Monroe Township. Shepard was hunting there without permission or a game license.

Sheriff’s deputies found Shepard hiding inside a home three weeks later and seized guns, including the shotgun used to shoot Gozzard.

Shepard attorney Candace Garrett says Shepard is remorseful and that he was shooting at a deer when Gozzard was struck.