Dear U.S. Department of Justice, I am writing to ask for your assistance in getting justice for my pregnant daughter who was shot and killed on July 26, 2014. It is my belief that local law enforcement interfered or hindered the investigation and or prosecution of the perpetrator for personal reasons which violates the rights of the victims Katherine Bryan Hoover and Rehlin Hoover. I am the mother of Katherine Bryan Hoover- the pregnant woman who was shot and killed on July 26th, 27th 2014 by William Dehayes in Brooksville, Fl. I have continuously asked for help from local officials to assist me in prosecuting he man who killed my daughter and grandson who has never been charged, detained or arrested. According to the policies and procedures of law enforcement and the Florida Statutes, Dehayes should have been immediately arrested. In prior exchanges of correspondence with local officials on the matter, Katherine and her husband were visiting Dehayes on July 26, 2014, Dehayes decided to play with his loaded gun collection twirling them he says “like a cowboy would” while impaired by the Methadone, Lortabs and Soma that he had been prescribed for back pain. This is according to Dehayes’s own videotaped testimony to Detective Breedlove. The investigation of this case has been totally mishandled by the Sheriff's Office. The Killer William Dehayes admits in his videotaped interview with Detective Breedlove he discussed the case with his good friend Sergeant Holbrook who works for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. The detective admits to knowing the Sergeant and deters the conversation away from discussing anything more about the Sergeant. Detective Breedlove brought Dehayes into the interview room and appeared as he was coaching him on how it was an "Accidental Shooting." There are no accidental gun deaths just a lot of irresponsible gun owners. The Procedures and Protocol of Law Enforcement had not been followed. In any homicide the first suspect is the spouse. Carson Hoover was never investigated. Katherine's family was never talked to by the sheriff's office or detective other than to say it was an "accidental shooting" and Detective Breedlove stated this at the hospital before my daughter was officially dead in front of eight witnesses. The Policies and Procedure Law Enforcement Handbook states" Probable Cause General An arrest by a police officer pursuant to a warrant or a warrant exception must always be based on “probable cause.” The officer must have probable cause to believe that a particular statute has been violated by the subject, and that all the elements enumerated in the statute are present, based on the totality of the circumstances. The man was playing recklessly, with a gun and he did pull the hammer back while twirling it and uncocking it pulling the trigger causing the firearm to discharge therefore shooting Katherine straight in the temple. Police responding to the scene did not test his blood to determine the levels of either drug arguably contrary to Florida Statutes §790.155(1)(a) which states that if a firearm was used by a person under the influence of controlled substances and has caused the death or serious bodily injury of a human being, such person shall submit, upon the request of a law enforcement officer, to a test of his or her blood for the purpose of determining the presence of controlled substances therein. The explanation is "he didn't appear high." Not everyone's eyes are dilated when they are high and people who have just been in a tragic situation often sober up Immediately. Why wasn’t Dehayes tested? When a grown man sits playing Cowboys & Indians with live weapons before a pregnant woman and children, I think his state of mind should be questioned and at the very least it should be considered an “improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon” contrary to Florida Statute §790.10. (Even though it is prescribed medication, law enforcement is well aware of problems of prescription drug abuse in the county and the likelihood the prescribed dosage may or may not could have been taken. This should have been taken into consideration and therefore Dehayes should have been tested.) Florida law states that any person who stores or leaves a loaded firearm on premises under his or her control, and who knows or reasonably should know that a person under age 16 is likely to gain access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent or person having charge of the minor, or without supervision required by law, must do one of the following: Keep the firearm in a securely locked box or container; Keep the firearm in a location which a reasonable person would believe to be secure; or Secure the firearm with a trigger lock. Let’s not forget, that Dehayes collects firearms so he should be held to a higher standard and at the least recognize that of 10 common safe gun handling rules, he violated the top 4 as outlined by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. He admits to Law Enforcement he has firearms safety. Firearms Safety -- 10 Rules of Safe Gun Handling 1. Always Keep the Muzzle Pointed In A Safe Direction 2. Firearms Should Be Unloaded When Not Actually In Use 3. Don't Rely on Your Gun's "Safety" 4. Be Sure of Your Target And What's Beyond It 5. Use Correct Ammunition 6. If Your Gun Fails to Fire When the Trigger Is Pulled, Handle with Care! 7. Always Wear Eye and Ear Protection When Shooting 8. Be Sure the Barrel Is Clear of Obstructions Before Shooting 9. Don't Alter or Modify Your Gun, And Have Guns Serviced Regularly 10. Learn the Mechanical and Handling Characteristics Of The Firearm You Are Using In Dehayes interview with Detective Breedlove he admits to leaving the firearms out "because the boys (his girlfriend's children) know better than to touch them." Now at the time Dehayes was not married to Christine Erickson. Any parent knows if you tell a child not to do something they are going to do it as they are curious. Both the Attorney General's office and the Department of Children's and Families should have been contacted. Both the Sheriff's Office and State Attorney's office are legal reporters of Child Abuse, Neglect and Endangerment. Fl Statue 39.201 Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline Reporters in the following occupation categories are required to provide their names to the hotline staff: Physician, osteopathic physician, medical examiner, chiropractic physician, nurse, or hospital personnel engaged in the admission, examination, care, or treatment of persons; Health or mental health professional other than one listed in subparagraph 1.; Practitioner who relies solely on spiritual means for healing; School teacher or other school official or personnel; Social worker, day care center worker, or other professional child care, foster care, residential, or institutional worker; Law enforcement officer; or Judge. Fl Statue 827.03(1)(B) Child Abuse (b) “Child abuse” means: 1. Intentional infliction of physical or mental injury upon a child; 2. An intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child; or 3. Active encouragement of any person to commit an act that results or could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child. I think children seeing a pregnant woman's head shot in front of them is considered Child Endangerment and Child Abuse. Therefore, the Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney's Office violated the law. Now according to the Florida Law Protocol, the charge of "Battery, Aggravated Battery and Murder Florida Statutes § 784.03, provides alternative definitions of battery:(A) The actual and intentional touching or striking of another person (“against the victim’s will”); or (B) the intentional causation of bodily harm to the victim. As a general rule, the crime of battery occurs whenever one-person (“the perpetrator”) touches or injures the victim without legal excuse or justification. If, while committing a battery, the perpetrator used a deadly weapon, or if he or she seriously injured the victim, the perpetrator may be charged with aggravated battery. If the victim dies of the injuries inflicted on him during an aggravated battery, the perpetrator can be charged with murder or manslaughter. A periodic review of Florida Statutes chapters 782 and 784 is recommended" Now according to the letter, I received from Assistant State Attorney Peter Magrino he stated "A review of the statements reveal that DEHAYES and Carson Hoover were former co-workers until DEHAYES was injured and ultimately relieved of his employment as a truck driver. Arrangements were made for the Hoovers' to visit the DEHAYES residence where the shooting occurred. Both DEHAYES and Carson are familiar with firearms and prior to the shooting at the home DEHAYES had already shown and let Carson handle two guns without any problems. As DEHAYES was showing the .22 caliber western style revolver and after Carson had handled it and returned the firearm to DEHAYES the discharge occurred. The occupants of the home who observed or heard the shot disclaim any amines, drug or alcohol use, or pointing of firearms prior to the shot. Investigative information reflects that DEHAYES professed firearms safety. During the events at the residence he had appropriately handled the other two firearms in a safe manner which included unloading, checking same and then showing them to Carson prior to handing them to him." Peter Magrino could not have reviewed the videotaped interrogation. Dehayes stated he took Methadone, Lortabs and Sonoma at the dinner time hour and the shooting occurred at approximately 6:45pm. He also never mentions that Dehayes was twirling the gun like a cowboy, cocked the gun or applied pressure to the trigger to uncock it when it went off and shot Katherine point blank in the temple. Magrino also never discusses the trajectory of how she was shot. According to Peter Magrino "The instruction for manslaughter cases reads as follows: Each of us has a duty to act reasonably toward others. If there is a violation of that duty, without any conscious intention to harm, that violation is negligence. But culpable negligence is more than a failure to use ordinary care toward others. In order for negligence to be culpable, it must be gross and flagrant. Culpable negligence is a course of conduct showing reckless disregard of human life, or the safety of persons exposed to its dangerous effects, or such an entire want of care as to raise a presumption of a conscious indifference to consequences, or which shows wantonness or recklessness, or a grossly careless disregard of the safety and welfare of the public, or such an indifference to the rights of others as is equivalent to an intentional violation of such rights. The negligent act or omission must have been committed with an utter disregard for the safety of others. Culpable negligence is consciously doing and act or following a course of conduct that the defendant must have known, or reasonably should have known, was likely to cause death or great bodily injury. Pardon me but taking a loaded gun out in front of women and children and twirling it around is culpable negligence, it was gross and flagrant. Culpable negligence is a course of conduct showing reckless disregard of human life, or the safety of persons exposed to its dangerous effects, or such an entire want of care as to raise a presumption of a conscious indifference to consequences, or which shows wantonness or recklessness, or a grossly careless disregard of the safety and welfare of the public, or such an indifference to the rights of others as is equivalent to an intentional violation of such rights. The negligent act or omission must have been committed with an utter disregard for the safety of others. Culpable negligence is consciously doing and act or following a course of conduct that the defendant must have known, or reasonably should have known, was likely to cause death or great bodily injury. Dehayes also states "I haven’t slept in three days trying to figure out how the hell [the gun] went off. I don’t know. I mean them damn guns. The shotgun goes off when it wants to. I almost blew my damn head off twice." With this statement he knew there was a chance someone could have been injured or killed which is culpable negligence. 1) Justice Levine’s order in Hosnedl v. State, 126 So.3d 400 (Fla. App., 2013) in which he writes: "A firearm is a deadly weapon, and firing a firearm constitutes deadly force ... “This is so whether the firing was intentional or not." 2) The discharging of weapons on private property, including residential property, is legal as long as lives are not endangered, University of Florida law professor George B. Dekle said. In a news article Law Professor George Dekle states “If you are fooling around with a gun and it goes off, that’s against the law. If you are out celebrating and firing a gun into the air, that’s against the law,” Dekle said. “It is against the law to negligently or recklessly discharge a firearm on your property.” In Dehayes description of the incident to Breedlove he states the pointing of the gun was to the back door and Katherine was sitting behind him eating McDonalds so how did the bullet go behind him to strike her in the head if it was aimed at the back door? Despite this damning evidence of repeated negligence, and despite the fact that there are children in DeHayes' home who might be at risk, officials not only refused to arrest or charge him: they also gave him his guns back, without so much as a slap on the wrist leaving the children at risk and endangerment. Williams v. State, 104 So. 782 (Fla. 1925), where the Florida Supreme Court said that the defendant's mere possession and handling” of a pistol at a crowded dance hall was sufficient to satisfy the culpable negligence standard. Or take Tillman v. State, 842 So.2d 922 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003). In Tillman, the defendant accidentally shot the victim while he was messing with the gun, which he believed to be unloaded. According to the court, the defendant admitted that he pulled back and released the hammer and acknowledged that he must have pulled the trigger. The court did not suggest, however, that he had pulled the trigger intentionally. Nevertheless, the court held that his conduct satisfied the culpable negligence standard. Now, I’m no forensic scientist but, Katherine was approximately 5’3” standing and 46” seated; the bullet struck her temple at perhaps 44” height. What reasonable person would pull the trigger of a firearm at a 44” height trajectory unless he expected it to hit someone? Keep in mind there were 2 women, 3 children and 1 other man present in the home. I am shocked, appalled, and devastated at how the judicial system has failed us. How is it that DeHayes' right to own and play recklessly with his guns trumps my daughter's right to life? Or my grandson's right to life? I wrote a letter to the State Attorney Brad King as Peter Magrino told me there was no one higher than him that could review the case. I thought that wasn’t correct as he is not the State Attorney who is elected by the people to his position. According to the letter from Brad King "From these statements, the evidence would show that Mr. DeHayes took the gun out of the holster, spun it around one or more times around his forefinger, then caught the butt of the gun in his hand and cocked it. He then was in the process of lowering the hammer, which requires putting pressure on the trigger, when the gun fired. Where the trigger is pulled intentionally,. THAT IS A CRIME, even though the person who pulled the trigger did not know, or did not intend, that a shot would be fired. In the letter I received from Brad King he states "lf Mr. DeHayes was impaired by the use of drugs or alcohol, that would be a factor that would have to be considered. While he admitted he had taken medication, he stated that he had only taken the prescribed dosage and denied it affecting his judgment. We specifically asked the deputies who interacted with him the day of the shooting, and none reported that he appeared to be under the influence of any intoxicant or that his faculties appeared to have been impaired. Therefore, his use of prescription drugs, in a prescribed amount, is not sufficient to make the matter a crime. We will never know because he was never tested if he was on the prescribed dosages. Interestingly, People are forced to take breathalyzer tests because the cop thinks you smell of alcohol or the person stopped tells they had a drink and the cop still test them to see if they are under the alcohol limits. hmm somehow, I don’t think this is fair why don’t you just take their word for it? The one person in the Hernando County Sheriff's office Lt. James Terry was willing to help in reviewing the case after he received the private investigators report advising what should have been done in the case and the assistant State Attorney Peter Magrino refused to grant a subpoena to obtained blood evidence taken from the killer on the night of the killing. I thought it was the prosecutors job to obtain evidence in a case to get a conviction? To me this appears to be more of a cover-up of evidence by the Assistant State Attorney. My cause is to get justice for my pregnant daughter who was shot and killed and or possibly murdered since the sheriff's office did not properly investigate the killing. Brad King is telling me that the killer got a free pass on killing two people and he is leaving the door open for other people to claim "Accidental Shooting or Legalized Murder "without fear of prosecution". I know Brad King does not care what public opinion is because he has refused my petition that has over 16 thousand signatures that say Dehayes should be prosecuted but let's keep in mind that law is made up on public opinion. A year after William Dehayes killed my daughter and grandson Mr. Dehayes while fully intoxicated according to police was in public in a mobile home park with a minor child shooting his guns off without a care of where the bullets landed. He was eventually arrested on this occurrence with his guns but being a misdemeanor, he was allowed to get his guns back after he finished his probation. In Conclusion, My daughter and grandson's lives matter. Their civil rights have been violated. I love my daughter and grandson they did not deserve to die nor did they ask to be killed. I am going to keep at this as there is no statute of limitations on murder. There are many violations here and to think that the people who are supposed to serve and protect are the ones who have violated the law including the State Attorney's office. The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. I think the FBI needs to step in and investigate and bring charges against the State Attorney, Assistant State Attorney Peter Magrino, Detective Breedlove and all the others who are involved in this cover-up. Let's not forget that Brad King and Peter Magrino were once cops and they are veterans of the justice system therefore know the laws. They should also know the Florida Law Enforcement Rules and Procedures. Florida Constitution. Article I, Section 2: All natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life and liberty Section 16: (b) Victims of crime or their lawful representatives, including the next of kin of homicide victims, are entitled to the right to be informed, to be present, and to be heard when relevant, at all crucial stages of criminal proceedings, to the extent that these rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the accused. I am hoping that you will help me and finally prosecute the man who killed my daughter and grandson. If you still conclude that this was not a criminal act then all the people who have been convicted and are in jail should be released immediately including Eric Stayton. The 14-year-old who accidentally shot Tavaris Rhodes and is in jail charged with manslaughter. The many other cases I am enclosing. We deserve Justice! THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN DISCRIMINATION. THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN INEQUITY.