A Racine County sheriff’s deputy is facing four felony counts after prosecutors say he had his 3-year-old daughter pull the trigger of a 12-gauge shotgun during Wisconsin’s youth turkey hunt, striking another deputy and that deputy’s young son.
James Lehman, 35, of Union Grove, was charged in Racine County Circuit Court with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with use of a dangerous weapon and two counts of injury by negligent use of a weapon. The shooting happened the afternoon of Sunday, April 12, 2026, at Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow, part of Honey Creek Wildlife Area in the Town of Rochester, near Burlington.
Lehman has been on administrative leave since the day of the incident. He is scheduled for an initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 10.
What investigators say happened
The outing fell on the second day of Wisconsin’s statewide youth turkey hunt, a two-day season for hunters 15 and younger held April 11–12, just before the regular spring season.
According to the criminal complaint, Lehman was hunting with his 3-year-old daughter when he saw movement he believed was a turkey — in one account, “what he thought was a turkey head,” and in another, a white turkey head and fan. He aimed a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun by resting the barrel over a fallen tree with the butt against his shoulder. His daughter was positioned in front of him. When they saw movement again, he had her pull the trigger. The shot was fired at what he thought was a turkey about 39 yards away.
The pellets hit a 40-year-old man and his 7-year-old son who were also turkey hunting nearby. Both victims were wearing camouflage. The man later told investigators he suspected Lehman mistook his hand — which was holding a turkey call — for a turkey’s head, based on the timing of the shot.
The complaint states the two men knew each other. Both work for the Racine County Sheriff’s Office. The wounded man told investigators he had previously asked Lehman not to hunt at his spots.
Lehman remained at the scene, ran to help, and spoke with Department of Natural Resources wardens the same day. He told them he was “not a very experienced turkey hunter” and that this was “one of his first times out hunting independently.” He also said he did not have a hunter education certificate because he was exempt after completing U.S. armed forces basic training.
The injuries
The adult victim was struck in the back, lower torso, left hand, forearm and upper arm. He was taken to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, treated in the emergency room and released that night. At a follow-up 12 days later, he still had significant swelling and numbness in his left arm.
The 7-year-old was hit in the back and head and was bleeding from the head after the shot. Court documents say he later underwent surgery on June 5. Doctors removed some pellets but could not remove others lodged in his skull, brain and near his spinal cord.
Why a 3-year-old could legally be on the hunt
Wisconsin’s hunting mentorship program has no minimum age. A mentee of any age may hunt without completing hunter education if that person holds the required licenses and stays within arm’s reach of a qualified mentor. Mentors must be at least 18, hold a current hunting approval, and either have completed hunter education or qualify for an exemption — including completion of U.S. armed forces basic training with proof submitted to the DNR. A mentor may take only one such mentee at a time.
Renee Thok, the DNR’s hunter education administrator, said Lehman’s military training qualified him for the hunter education waiver. She also said the daughter’s age, while striking to the public, is not itself a violation under the mentorship rules.
“I understand that people see the age and that probably sparks interest, but that doesn’t really play into it as they were utilizing the hunter mentorship program,” Thok told TMJ4. Mentors, she said, should “use their best judgment” and “consider the mentee’s abilities, their strengths, their weaknesses.” The core safety lesson that applies here, she added, is the oldest one in hunter education: “Be sure of your target — what’s before and beyond.”
Youth turkey hunts are meant to give children a first, closely supervised day afield. That structure did not prevent what prosecutors now describe as a reckless and negligent shot at other hunters.
The charges and who is prosecuting
Second-degree reckless injury is a Class F felony in Wisconsin. It requires proof that a person caused great bodily harm by criminally reckless conduct — conduct that created an unreasonable and substantial risk of death or great bodily harm. A conviction can carry up to 12 years and 6 months in prison and a $25,000 fine per count. A “use of a dangerous weapon” enhancer can add more time.
Injury by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon is a Class I felony. It requires proof that criminal negligence in handling a weapon caused bodily harm. It is punishable by up to 3 years and 6 months in prison and a $10,000 fine per count.
The DNR took the lead on the criminal investigation the day of the shooting. Because both Lehman and the adult victim are Racine County Sheriff’s Office employees, the Racine County district attorney’s office handed the case off. Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld is assisting. Wiedenfeld did not comment when asked by local outlets.
The sheriff’s office is running a separate internal investigation into whether Lehman violated department policy. Lt. Michael Luell, the office’s public information officer, confirmed Lehman has been on leave since April 12. The office has declined further comment on the allegations while the criminal case is pending and has not released updates on the victims’ medical condition.
Lehman is presumed innocent. No attorney of record had issued a public statement in the first days after the charges were reported.
What the case is — and is not — about
This is not a story about a toddler independently handling a gun in the woods. The complaint describes an adult who aimed a loaded shotgun at movement he had not identified and then had a 3-year-old complete the shot. The legal questions now are whether that conduct was criminally reckless, whether it was criminally negligent, and whether it caused the great bodily harm alleged — especially to a child who still has shotgun pellets in his head and spine.
It is also a test of how Wisconsin’s mentorship law works in practice. The statute lets very young children hunt if an adult stays within arm’s reach. It does not relieve that adult of the duty to identify the target, know what lies beyond it, and decide whether the child at their side is capable of the task. Thok’s public comments draw that line clearly: the program is legal; judgment is still required.
Lehman’s first court date is Sept. 10 in Racine County Circuit Court. The sheriff’s internal review is proceeding on a separate track. The 7-year-old’s remaining pellets, and whatever recovery follows, will outlast both.
