As you may or may not know I have been fighting to get justice for my pregnant daughter who was shot and killed by William Dehayes who has never been Arrested, Detained or Prosecuted for her and her son's death. I have written many letters to officials begging for help without much success. I have kept this in the media and news. The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence and Moms Demand For Action Against Gun Violence have been trying to help me. The CSGVA also started a petition on their website demanding Dehayes be prosecuted for Manslaughter. They have close to 5k signatures in two months time. House Representative Amanda Murphy met with me and put me in contact with Frances Werner-Watkins who is a former Pasco County Prosecutor. She reviewed the case and contacted Lisa Shoneman a private investigator and former Pasco County Sheriff's detective of 25 years. Here is her report of findings: July 10, 2016 Al Nienhuis Sheriff Hernando Sheriff’s Office 18900 Cortez Blvd. Brooksville Florida 34601 Reference: Death Investigation, Hoover, Katherine Lynn / Hoover, Baby Boy 07/26/2014 Case number 2014-22775 Dear Sheriff Nienhuis: In April 2016 Peeler Group International was contacted by Attorney Frances Werner-Watkins. Attorney Werner-Watkins informed us that Amanda Murphy of the Florida House of Representative, had met with Donna Bryan, mother of Katherine Hoover. Attorney Werner-Watkins felt her daughters case was within my expertise and asked if I could meet with her. I met with Mrs. Bryan and review her daughter’s case and her concerns over the Hernando State Attorney’s decision not to prosecute William Matthew DeHayes for her daughter’s death. As a result, our company agreed to review Katherine’s case and see if there maybe anything we could do to assist. As a part of our agreement with Mrs. Bryan she resolved to allow us to work together with both the Hernando Sheriff’s Office and the Hernando State Attorney’s Office in a productive manner. The object would be to move forward to try and find any possible additional evidence or information that may help with the investigation and prosecution. With this said I phoned Detective Breedlove and left him a voice mail informing him I would be investigating the case and asked him to contact me. OVERVIEW OF CASE According to Hernando County Sheriff’s Office reports Carson Hoover and his wife, Katherine Hoover were visiting Carson’s friend William Dehayes. Carson and William both collected and shot firearms as a hobby and were discussing different guns they owned. During their conversation Dehayes was twirling a .22 caliber revolver in a manor he referred to as the “cowboy maneuver.” Dehayes stated he was lowering the hammer of the revolver in order to disarm the firearm when it misfired and discharged striking Katherine in the head. Katherine was transported by Fire Rescue to the hospital where she was later pronounced deceased. Dehayes was also transported to the hospital complaining of chest pains and difficulty breathing. Hernando Sheriff’s Office referred manslaughter charges to the State Attorney’s office. The State Attorney determined there was not enough evidence to support the charges of manslaughter at that time. INVESTIGATION: On April 13, 2016 I attended a pretrial conference at the Hernando County Court House where William Dehayes was attending court in reference to new charges of discharging a firearm and disorderly conduct. These charges came a year and a half after he had caused the death of Katherine Hoover. Mrs. Bryan was present at the pretrial and I made the state attorney aware of her presence. I requested if they were to accept a plea deal, she be allowed to address the judge. There was no plea deal accepted at that time. The media was present and Mrs. Bryan and I did give an interview in hopes that any additional witnesses in her daughter’s case might come forward. Over the course of the next few months’ additional media coverage, website postings, neighborhood checks and radio interviews were done, but did not reveal any new witnesses that would assist in Katherine’s’ case. Our hope was that if Dehayes had acted recklessly prior to Katherine’s death with a firearm that a witness would come forward. Peeler Group International firearms experts reviewed the witness interviews, photographs and reports which unfortunately did not yield any additional information. However, one thing our experts did conclude was that anyone with any firearms experience should not handle a firearm without making sure it is unloaded and even then you make sure it is pointed in a safe direction. This is basic firearms safety, something Dehayes did state over and over again he was familiar with. On May 17, 2016 I attempted to contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Brenden Shally, I left him a voice mail requesting he phone me. I did not receive a return call or any cooperation from FDLE. After reviewing Detective Breedlove, the case detective for Hernando Sheriff’s Office, reports it is clear he did a thorough investigation of Katherine’s death. But as in any case a new set of eyes can sometimes reveal new ideas. I did have some suggestions I would like to make. I am aware the State Attorney does not feel there is enough evidence to support a Manslaughter charge. In my career at the Pasco Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit, this happened to me on many occasions. There are times that the case does not rise to that of criminal charges and there are times that there is further information that is not initially found or available that would change that standing. SUGGESTIONS: -Check with the hospital where Dehayes was treated following the shooting to see if they took blood and checked for toxicology levels. (I noticed in the crime scene photo’s a bottle of Hydrocodone) this narcotic was not mentioned by Dehayes as being taken by him prior to the shooting. This may have been done but it was not mentioned in the reports. -I would re-interview Christine Erickson, Dehayes girlfriend. I attempted to interview her but she refused to speak with me, she and Dehayes are no longer together. Her interviewed stated Dehayes was twirling the gun when it fired, which is inconsistent with his statement that he was lowering the hammer when it fired. -I would re-interview Christine’s son, Bailey Erickson, his account of what occurred bothers me, it is to specific and exactly as Dehayes recounted it, down to which finger he used to twirl the gun to which finger he used to lower the hammer. This information came from a thirteen-year-old who was sitting on the couch in the living room at the time of the shooting, There were only three people who actually saw the shooting, Dehayes, Bailey and Christina. All other witnesses were distracted when the gun discharged. -Although there is no doubt Dehayes did not intend for the gun to discharge there is a doubt as to when it discharged. Dehayes was standing at the kitchen table and Katherine was seated across from him. She was struck in the eye and the bullet traveled upward and lodged in her left temporal lobe. This indicates that the bullet traveled upward, this leads me to believe the gun discharged when Dehayes was twirling the gun, not when he was letting the hammer go forward. It would be an unnatural motion for the gun to be that low and pointed in an upward direction to let the hammer go forward. I believe this difference is important to DeHayes actions as to when Katherine was shot. FDLE has already determined that the gun was not malfunctioning as DeHayes claimed. I suggest requesting a trajectory test be conducted utilizing both scenarios to prove this theory. Below I have provided a photograph of the crime scene to show where Dehayes was standing during the shooting on the left and where Katherine was seated eating McDonald’s on the right. I also provided a photograph of where the bullet entered Katherine’s left eye and lodged in her left tempural lobe. CONCLUSION: After my investigation of Katherine’s shooting I could not locate any witnesses that supported Dehayes had previously acted in a reckless or wanton manner while handling a firearm prior to Katherine’s death. However, his recount of the events of when Katherine was fatally wounded do not match her injuries. He maintains he had twirled the gun, stopped and was in the process of lowering the hammer when the gun fired. This does not match her wound pattern, the bullet entered her left eye and traveled up warded. She was seated at the kitchen table and Dehayes was standing across the kitchen table standing. His claim to have been lowering the hammer when the gun discharged does not match the upwarded motion the bullet traveled. However, if the gun discharged while he was twirling it, this would match the upward pattern. A trajectory test could determine the probability of the gun’s position when it was fired. If Dehayes was untruthful about his actions when the gun fired this may support his reckless and wanton behavior that is required by the state for prosecution. Further, if records are available at the hospital where Dehayes was treated it would show if he was under the influence of narcotics or alcohol at the time of the shooting. Thank you for taking the time to consider my investigation and findings I sincerely hope that it assists the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office with this case. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance at Peeler Group International. Sincerely, Lisa Schoneman Investigator cc: Hernando State Attorney Amanda Murphy I do not agree that Detective Breedlove did a through investigation as he made the determination of "Accidental Shooting" before my daughter died. I do believe because Dehayes stated he talked to his good friend Sgt. Holbrook who worked for the Sheriffs office is one of the reasons the case was not prosecuted. Anyone who watched the interview with the detective would see that the detective was coaching Dehayes. Dehayes admitted he had taken Narcotics in his statement to Breedlove. I also feel that Peter Magrino did not watch the video tape between detective Breedlove and Dehayes. I feel the FDLE has not done there job either. They should have investigated this case with all the flaws I found that should have been done but werent. Lastly, I would like to say that in the past two years I have been fighting and researching I have found the public needs to research and investigate the candidates they want in office. Change doesn't happen unless the people make it change.