In the crisp autumn air of a remote Colorado wilderness, the life of a young man was tragically cut short. Simon Jacob Howell, a 26-year-old male from Ridgeley, West Virginia, was on a hunting trip west of Kremmling on November 9, 2020. An avid and skilled outdoorsman, he was with a group of fellow hunters, including a man who had been his hunting companion for several years.
The group was tracking a wounded elk through the densely timbered, steep terrain that morning.
Just before 10:00 a.m., a call was made to law enforcement reporting that a member of the hunting party had been shot by another member. Simon Jacob Howell had been fatally wounded by a gunshot. The Grand County Coroner would later confirm that a single gunshot wound was the cause of death. The initial investigation revealed this to be an isolated incident, and the man who fired the shot, 52-year-old Harry Watkins from Pennsylvania, cooperated with the authorities from the outset.
The investigation into the circumstances of the shooting continued, and eventually, the 14th Judicial District Attorney's Office filed a charge of criminally negligent homicide against Harry Watkins. It was alleged that Watkins had fired his rifle multiple times in quick succession through thick woods, striking Howell. The case went to trial, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a hung jury.
Following the trial, Harry Watkins pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, a misdemeanor for careless hunting. In August 2023, he was sentenced to six months in county jail. The tragic event left a lasting scar on the families involved and served as a somber reminder of the immense responsibility that comes with hunting. Simon's family remembered him as a man whose finest days were spent deep in the woods, a skilled marksman who cherished every moment in the outdoors.
