No Charges for Fla. Gun-Twirling Guy Who Killed Pregnant Lady

Katherine Hoover was five months pregnant when she died horrifically in July after William DeHayes accidentally shot her while twirling his handgun; the son she was carrying, already named Rehlin, also died in the incident. The Daily Beast revisits the case in Florida, and finds Hoover's family fighting with the prosecutor in Hernando, who has declined to charge DeHayes in the deaths. "Just as it is my duty to prosecute those who violate the law, it is equally my duty to refrain from prosecuting those whose conduct, no matter how outrageous, does not constitute a crime," wrote state attorney Brad King, per the Tampa Tribune, adding "this does not constitute culpable negligence."

That line of rationale doesn't sit well with Hoover's mother, Donna Bryan, who is petitioning for involuntary manslaughter charges. "They prosecute people for drowning dogs. Do you know how this makes me feel?" she says. DeHayes was on prescription painkillers at the time of the shooting, but apparently on the prescribed dose, notes the Beast. "I know William wouldn’t have done something like this on purpose, but I’ve lost two very special people in my life that I can never get back because of his negligence," Hoover's widower, Carson Hoover, tells the Beast. "I want to see justice done." (More Florida stories.)