Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A target shooter who accidentally shot and killed a 14-year-old boy riding in his family's car during a Sunday afternoon drive to look at the fall colors has been charged with negligent homicide.
Kayleen Richins, 40, of Roy, was charged Monday in 2nd District Court with the class A misdemeanor.
On Sept. 23, Zackary Kempke, of North Ogden, was riding with his mother, father and sister on a dirt road in a remote area of the Monte Cristo range between Woodruff and Huntsville when Zackary, who was in the back seat, was shot in the head and killed, according to charging documents.
The shot was determined to have come from a family that was target shooting several hundred feet away, Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey said.
"The defendant and her family were using a paper target on a cardboard box to sight in a hunting rifle," the charges state.
Richins was unaware there was a road on the other side of the dense forest they were in, according to court documents. Prosecutors noted in the charges that Richins "did not investigate" what was beyond the trees.
"It was this failure to properly ascertain what was downrange of the target before setting up the target and firing the shot that lead to (Zackary's) death," according to charging documents.
