A 77-year-old Florida Keys woman is accused of the shooting death of an endangered Key deer and could face a year in federal prison if she’s convicted.
Wendy Kilheffer of Big Pine Key shot the animal on Nov. 16, according to authorities. In addition to prison time, she would also face, if judged guilty, a $100,000 fine and a year of supervised release following her incarceration.
But a Keys environmental group that advocates the Key deer — a species of small white-tail deer unique to the Lower Keys and protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act — says there is more to the story. The animal, advocates say, was killed out of compassion because it was wounded and in severe distress for days.
