- A 52-year-old hunter has been charged with murder after he shot dead a teenager in a state park in Pennsylvania.
- Prosecutors identified Kenneth Troy Heller as the hunter who shot the teenager while he was waiting with his girlfriend for the sunset.
- Troy has agreed to be detained without bail until his arrest in April, where he will enter into a plea deal.
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A Pennsylvania hunter is charged with murder after prosecutors said he walked away after shooting a teenager in a state park.
The teenager, 18-year-old Jason Kutt, was sitting in his car with his girlfriend in Nockamixon State Park when he was shot in October. They were waiting to watch the sunset, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub told a news conference.
His girlfriend hears the shot and sees Kutt fall. When she looked down the road, she saw a hunter in orange gear looking in their direction, but he fled the scene.
Eight weeks later, prosecutors identified Kenneth Troy Heller, 52, as the shooter. He was charged with culpable homicide, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a brass dagger and two violations of the hunting law – including failure to provide assistance to an injured person to grant.
Heller turned himself in to police and agreed to be held without bail. He reached a preliminary plea agreement with prosecutors and after the consultation of Kutt’s family, which will be formalized at his court hearing in April, Weintraub said.
Weintraub said the family through Kutt in the plea agreement could continue with the death of their son and ‘celebrate his life’ as cases like these could continue in the criminal justice system.
“By entering into an agreement today, we can avoid it all,” Weintraub said. “
Jason’s family is learning exactly what happened to him, “he said. They will not like it, but they will get a little finality of what happened to Jason. ‘
Weintraub remarked that this was not the ‘perfect end’ to the case, as it would mean that Jason – a graduate of a local high school in 2020 – would live again.
“I do not believe it was Mr Heller’s intention to kill Jason Kutt,” Weintraub said. “He never knew the man, they had no animus. It was not a ‘Hey, I’m going to try it and see what it’s like to be a killer’ for Mr Heller. He expressed remorse . “
Weintraub said he does not want to predict the case in October, but now that he knows the circumstances, he is comfortable that the complaints are appropriate for Heller’s behavior.
“He’s a hunter, he hit what he was aiming for, and he made a horrible, horrible mistake,” he said.