Howard Beach hunter kills toddler

A deer hunter from Howard Beach sits in an upstate jail cell - held without bail in the shooting death of a 16-month old girl - and facing 15 years in prison.
Edward Taibi, 45, was reportedly hunting from a “tree blind” in the rural Sullivan County community of Swan Lake on Sunday, November 16.
According to authorities, Taibi shot and wounded a deer from the elevated platform with a high-powered hunting rifle. They say he then climbed down and shot at the wounded deer a second time.
The shot missed the deer and flew 400 feet, through the wall of a house trailer and struck Charly Skala in the upper torso. The girl, who was visiting with her grandparents, was taken to Catskills Regional Medical Center and then flown to Westchester Medical Center, where she died.
State law forbids discharging either a rifle or bow within 500 feet of any occupied residence or business, unless the hunter owns or leases the property, or has the owner’s consent, according to Maureen Wren of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
State Police Lieutenant Pierce Gallagher is reported to have said that Taibi is a friend of the owner of the neighboring property and had hunted there before.
Despite reportedly expressing remorse and being “broken up” over the shooting, the Howard Beach resident is being held in the Bethel Town jail, charged with second-degree manslaughter.
The County Attorney and State Police investigators are said to have sought the more severe charge because of the “reckless” nature of the incident.
A State Police spokesperson at the Middletown barracks told The Courier that the rifle used was a “Browning 300 Winchester Magnum.” The spokesperson said that the bullet went through “her shoulder, a cabinet and out the other side” of the house trailer.
According to ballistic tables, the “300 Mag” is capable of killing a deer at ranges well in excess of 1,500 feet.
The spokesperson also said that although Taibi was hunting “adjacent to a cornfield, which means that deer would naturally come there; he had also put down salt licks.”
“Salt licks” are blocks of salt which fill a dietary need and are virtually irresistible to animals. It is illegal to hunt game animals in the area of a salt lick or other “bait pile.”
The spokesperson also revealed that State Police investigators found and destroyed the wounded deer.
Taibi’s case was assigned to the Sullivan Legal Aid Bureau, where attorney Jeff Bradley reportedly said on Monday it was too soon to comment.
Neither the girl’s grandparents nor parents, who live about 10 miles away from the shooting scene in the community of Woodburne would comment.
In a TV interview from their Howard Beach home, Taibi’s girlfriend said, “He’s really upset and we’re really sorry for the family of the baby that’s life was lost.”
A weeping Evelyn Lopez revealed that Taibi had lost a 12-year-old daughter to cancer two years ago. “He’s hysterical - he would never hurt anybody intentionally… never,” Lopez said.
The couple lives with Taibi’s surviving 17-year-old daughter. “Kids are his life,” Lopez said.
As investigators were searching for the fatal bullet, a neighbor of the grandparents said in a broadcast video, “It’s terrible; there’s something like this every year - you get people who come up from the city and don’t know the area. They’re using high-powered rifles. It’s bound to happen.”
The neighbor, Floyd Hokirk said, “I’m a hunter - I love going hunting.” He grimaced and looked away as he observed, “I don’t need a rifle that’s going to shoot 600 yards.”
Visibly upset, Hokirk said, “I’m right next door. It could have been my kids.”