Hunter charged in fatal shooting of Virginia college student

Three students at Ferrum College, near Roanoke, Va., were in an open field near campus Tuesday, working on a biology class assignment, when a single shot rang out.

Jason Cloutier, 31, a hunter, fired a rifle bullet that passed through the chest of Jessica Goode, a 23-year-old from Winchester, killing her instantly, and then hit the hand of Regis Boudinot, 20, of McLean, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

On Thursday, Boudinot's stepmother appealed for an end to recriminations against the hunter, who told authorities he mistook the students for deer.

"We all make mistakes, and people are saying horrible things about him without knowing the facts," Kimberly Boudinot wrote in an e-mail to friends. "I have never known hate and cruelty to triumph over love, and I ask that everyone remember this."

Cloutier was charged with manslaughter, reckless handling of a firearm and trespassing, police said.

Kimberly Boudinot said that her stepson and two other students "were on a school assignment tracking turtles for their biology class when it happened. As soon as they heard the sound, he saw that [Goode] had a huge hole in her chest. She turned to Regis and said, 'I am going to die.' My son watched one of his dearest friends die."

Regis Boudinot, a junior at Ferrum and a graduate of Langley High School in McLean, was doing well after reconstructive surgery on his hand, his stepmother said. The third student at the scene was not injured.

"We are definitely counting our blessings," Kimberly Boudinot said. "Our prayers and hearts go out not only to a family that has lost a daughter, but to the hunter's family. He has a wife and 2-month-old baby, and this is a nightmare for his family. It changes your life. He didn't know that it wasn't a deer. He certainly didn't mean to hurt anyone."

Goode was an environmental science major who loved to go camping. "They were the best of friends," Boudinot said. "She was a wonderful and very bright young lady who loved many people."

Goode's death is the 39th hunting fatality in Virginia since 1998 and the first of those that has involved a non-hunter, said Julia Dixon, a Game and Inland Fisheries spokeswoman.

It's not rare for hunters to mistake people for wildlife. In 17 of the 39 fatalities, the shooters said they fired at what they thought was an animal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.