# SC man accidentally kills brother in hunting accident



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Aynor man kills younger brother in apparent hunting accident

The Associated Press
Last Updated:October 12. 2006 1:50AM
Published: October 12. 2006 3:30AM

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /610120586

AYNOR, S.C.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after he killed his younger brother while thinking he was shooting at a deer, authorities say.

Michael G. Sellers fired his shotgun after seeing some movement in a field outside his Aynor home Tuesday evening, said his father, Michael J. Sellers.

"My younger son was out in the field and my older son thought he was inside the house," the father said. "Michael saw some lights in the field and thought he was a deer."

James Edward Sellers, 18, was struck in the left shoulder, then the bullet went into his chest, Horry County Coroner Robert Edge said.

"All I could do was hold my hand over the spot that was bleeding," his father said. "There was nothing I could do."

Michael G. Sellers was charged with involuntary manslaughter because police think he didn't intend to hurt his brother, Horry County Police Sgt. Bob Carr said.


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## scissorbill (Sep 14, 2003)

I get very weary of the "he looked like a deer" story. A man never looks like a deer. whats this "he saw lights? Dark? Deer have lights? Scary story.


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## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

Who shoots at moving brush, I never met anyone that stupid. this is a scary story.


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Horry County Police Dept. must agree with you guys, hence the charges filed. I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted for accidentally shooting someone while hunting. An 8yr old shot his dad in the stomach near home here last week with a 20ga shotgun, but not even the slightest talk of any criminal act.

If this was an accident and the charges prevail, you better contact your representatives. Sounds to me like maybe your leaders may want to treat every person with a gun the same way they get to treat every driver with blood alcohol content.

Just something to think about.


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## usmarine0352 (Nov 26, 2005)

This is really a strange story.

He saw "LIGHTS" in the field....what would that be???? A Trespasser's Truck??? A deer certaintly wouldn't be the first thing to come to mind.

And that story about the 8 yr old, has no Relevance to this one. Why don't you just a say a 3 month old baby shot his dad and they didn't proscecute.......look at the age descrepancy in those stories. One is 21 yrs old and one is 8 yrs old. Big difference.

It is definitely negligent......but I think accidently killing your own brother would be punishment enough. But maybe they thought he was really trying too.....and used accident as an excuse.


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Marine, that is exactly my point, hence the charges.

And I obviously am aware an 8yr old would ALMOST never be considered a criminal, but it actually is TOTALLY relevant.

The story of the 8yr old very clearly illustrates that it is entirely possible for someone to be shot as a result of a complete and total accident, wth no fault from a legal standpoint.

There is a growing wave of acceptance in the country that every time someone is hurt, someone has to be punished, and that scares the crap out of me!!!!!! That's why I said if it shakes out that the man was shot accidentally people had better take action, as that could just as easily be you or me in that situation some day. Not that you would shoot into a bush, but bullets can do strange things under weird circumstances. How would you like to face criminal charges if you killed someone who was on the property without your knowledge? Say your bullet went through a deer, glanced off a fallen tree behind the deer, and struck a guy you didn't even know was there 300 yards away. Humor me for a second as I know I'm being obscure, but if cases like the Horry County case are allowed to prevail (assuming it WAS, in fact, an accident) then you would be held to the same standards and have to get a second mortgage on your house to hire an attorney, and you might lose!

People need to worry about things that don't affect them personally, 'cause they might later!


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## usmarine0352 (Nov 26, 2005)

I see your point. There is usually a couple of cases of someone being shot and hurt or killed every year from hunting. Most of those go unpunished. So I would think from those statistics it's not becoming a common practice to punish someone everytime. At least I hope not.

I didn't mean to offend you. But two such cases are very different. That's why I said what I said.

:beer:


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Marine, no apology necessary. Even with all your training (Thank you very much, by the way, for serving this great country) you cannot possibly offend me. Especially in this format.

I don't know where you live, but where I'm at in the midwest charges are filed pretty much every time they can find evidence of any infraction at all. For example, an acquaintance of my oldest son fell asleep driving and killed his passenger a few months ago. His lawyer has him prepared for at least some jail time. At last press release the authorities were "still looking into it".

I don't want to bore you guys with long-winded posts, but here's something to put into perspective how much times have changed....for the worse.

A good friend of mine, whom I didn't meet until I was in my 20's, lived a very wild young life. One of his buddies was by his side for many of his adventures. The father of that buddy was a very religious man, and had made the statement that he would give anything if his son (Mike) would repent and join the Church. Well my buddy (Jim) has since repented, and I tease him about how easy it is for him to live a good life now because he's already done just about everything a person could do, and is very lucky to be alive to talk about it! But anyway, Mike was slower to change. Right up until he shot his dad in the leg in a situation almost exactly like the one Ryan has described. Mike held his dad in his arms, literally, as he slowly bled to death, but his dad got his wish, because Mike joined the church and by all accounts is now living a life his dad would approve of.

Here's the point. That was about 25 years ago. No charges were filed, or even discussed, as far as we know. It's like you mentioned, Marine, there is nothing the state could do to Mike that would matter after what he went though. But as we can all see, things are different now, and I don't like it one bit.

I'm sure we all have noticed that the average person nowdays all but refuses to take responsibility for their actions, so I guess in some respects it is inevitable that the states will force that responsibility on someone.

Hopefully it was a legitimate accident and the charges will be dropped before the family has to mortgage the farm. If it wasn't an accident, then I guess he deserves whatever they chose to do to him. I just hope the truth prevails.


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## Nate1983 (Mar 15, 2006)

Christ!!!! Thats exactly why I cant stand our law systems uke: . This guy accidentally shot his brother. Sure it sounds like a bizzare situation but im sure he didnt mean to kill his brother and now they want to charge him with manslaughter. WOW!!!! If having to live the rest of your life knowing you shot your brother isnt enough I dont know what is. :eyeroll:


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## jeep_guy_4x4 (Apr 11, 2005)

I was a Police Officer working traffic accident investigation for 5 years. In most areas of our country when a person fails to follow traffic laws by act or omission and causes an accident that takes some ones life in most situations the prosecuting attorney will file charges of involuntary manslaughter. Generally an omission will draw involuntary manslaughter & an act would most likely be manslaughter or perhaps even stiffer charge.

The reason why this happens is generally someone failed to follow an established traffic law. Such as running a red light, drinking, drugs, speeding. As a result of not being responsible with a motor vehicle they are charged with manslaughter. In the rare event that a traffic law was not committed the driver most likely would not be charged.

I suspect that the prosecuting attorney believed that some was responsible for follow state & local laws regarding weapons, hunting, etc in the event described in the post.

Its unfortunate that a life was lost because of what appears to be neglect.

Most of the time during the general deer firearms season the average hunter I come across doesn't practice safe firearm handle. Probably the most abused is unsafe practice is "knowing your target & beyond" before aiming or pointing a loaded rifle. It is a common practice to aim a high-powered rifle at game to use the optics to look at game, rather than using binoculars. But that's another story. In guess that's my pet peeve&#8230;


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