Deputy James Lehman | Racine County Sheriff’s Office
It’s been four months since news broke about a hard-to-believe situation coming out of Wisconsin’s youth turkey season. After placing a 12-gauge shotgun in the hands of his 3-year-old daughter, the man who told her to take a shot that ended with two other hunters being injured has been formally charged.
The incident took place in mid-April at Honey Creek Wildlife Area when 34-year-old James Lehman, who serves as a Racine County Sheriff’s deputy, was mentoring his 3-year-old daughter on her first turkey hunt. After the pair settled in, his daughter reportedly spotted some movement about 35 yards away from where they were situated. Believing what they saw was a gobbler heading their way, Lehman positioned the 3-year-old child, helped her aim the semi-auto shotgun and had her pull the trigger.
Unfortunately for the young girl, her shot was met with human screams of pain rather than an explosion of feathers. Instead of a targeted longbeard, the duo soon learned that the shot struck a 40-year-old man (who just so happened to be Racine County Sheriff’s deputy as well) and his 7-year-old son, who were also chasing turkeys in the area.
Both of the victims were sent to hospital for the treatment of their injuries. At the time, it was reported that the 40-year-old victim was released on the same day, but the 7-year old was admitted to hospital and underwent surgery to treat injuries to his head, but still has pellets lodged in his skull, brain and spinal cord to this day.
According to court documents, Lehman told investigators he “saw what he thought was a turkey head” and that he “had his three-year-old daughter pull the trigger.” He went on to admit that he was not a very experienced turkey hunter and mentioned to investigators that this was one of his first times hunting independently.
Wisconsin’s mentorship program allows children of any age to hunt as long as they remain within arm’s reach of a qualified mentor. That legal framework is nothing new, and the DNR has repeatedly noted that the child’s age itself is not the primary issue under the statute.
Sure, the core failure here is most certainly target identification. But from where we sit, there is also no polite way around the practical reality that placing a 12-gauge shotgun in the hands of a three-year-old, even with an adult guiding the shot, is a poor decision.
Given that both the defendant and the adult victim are Racine County Sheriff”s deputies, the Racine County District Attorney’s office recused itself and handed the case off to Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld who announced charges earlier this week.
For his negligence, Lehman has been charged with two counts of second-degree reckless injury and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon and is set to be in front of a judge on September 10th.
The Racine County Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday that Lehman has been placed on administrative leave and is under internal investigation to determine whether or not he violated any department policies separate from the criminal investigation being headed up by the DNR.
