“assault with a deadly weapon”...
did they actually attack her on purpose? Assault takes intent. I’m not so sure on the “deadly weapon” part either.
A few years ago near where I live a walker was hit in the neck with a pellet. It broke the skin and penetrated a blood vessel. I don't remember if it was fatal, but it was serious.
Is she any less hit if they “didn’t mean to”??
I know of two cases where kids were hit by BBs/pellets that penetrated their chests near the heart. Internal bleeding around the heart increased pressure on the heart and they died. One case happened to a boy in a family we know.
Search "killed by bb pellet gun."
Heck....I had a patient in the hospital back in the early 90's that was killed by a BB gun.
Some pellet guns have a muzzle velocity of 1000fps.
There have been several instances of deaths caused by them. One recently in NC.
IIRC the pellet penetrated a boy's temple.