Howard Beach hunter indicted for manslaughter

The Howard Beach hunter who accidentally shot and killed a 16-month-old baby girl in the upstate community of Swan Lake in Sullivan County last month has been indicted on charges including second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, along with a raft of other charges.
Edward Taibi, 45, was deer hunting from a “tree blind” on a friend’s property on Sunday, November 16.
According to County District Attorney Steve Lungen, Taibi shot and wounded a deer from the elevated platform with a high-powered hunting rifle. He then climbed down and shot at the wounded deer a second time.
However, the bullet, fired from a “Browning 300 Winchester Magnum,” according to authorities, missed the deer and flew 400 feet, through the wall of a mobile home at 1338 Horseshoe Lake Road striking Charly Ann Skala in the upper torso.
The family had gathered to watch football and the toddler was reportedly standing in her grandparents’ kitchen when she was cut down.
She was driven to Catskills Regional Medical Center by her family and then flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where she died that night.
Despite reportedly expressing remorse and being “broken up” over the shooting, Taibi was arrested for manslaughter and held for a week, until he was released from the Sullivan County jail on Monday, November 24, after posting bail, which had been set at $50,000 cash or a $100,000 bond.
The County Attorney and State Police investigators are said to have sought the more severe charge because of the “reckless” nature of the incident.
Before going to the grand jury, Lungen had reportedly said there was “much more” to the case than the initial allegation that Taibi recklessly discharged his firearm, but would not elaborate.
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.
A State Police spokesperson at the Middletown barracks told The Courier shortly after the incident that 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. Wren confirmed that it is illegal to hunt game animals in the area of a salt lick or other “bait pile.”
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.
“There has to be a lot of safety exercised when you are hunting,” Gallagher is quoted to have said, adding, “One of the first things about shooting any kind of firearm is knowing what’s behind your target and in this case, there wasn’t enough safety utilized and the results were tragic.”
After the indictment on Wednesday, December 17, DA Lungen confirmed that if convicted of the most serious charge, Taibi faces 15 years in prison.