Frank McDonald to appear in Superior Court Monday morning for his first appearance on charges West Milford - Frank McDonald will make his first appearance before presiding Judge Marilyn C. Clark in Passaic County Superior Court on Monday, Jan. 12 after being charged with reckless manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife, Cheryl, 44, on Saturday, Jan. 3. He was taken to the Passaic County Jail, but was released after posting $150,000 bail, according to John Latoracca, Passaic County’s chief assistant prosecutor. Latoracca said he expects to have to wait a couple of months both for the formal autopsy report on Cheryl McDonald and to present the case to a Passaic County Grand Jury. Both Latoracca and West Milford Police Chief Paul Costello said nothing revealed in the autopsy has altered the charges at this time. Reckless manslaughter is a second degree crime with a potential penalty of five to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $150,000. Police said McDonald called 9-1-1 at 9:59 a.m. Saturday to report his wife was struck in the back with a projectile from a pellet or BB gun. McDonald reportedly discharged the gun accidently in the house. Police and emergency services units found Cheryl McDonald in the kitchen of the couple’s 15 Wooley Drive home in respiratory distress. They administered oxygen and began CPR as they transported her by ambulance to the West Milford Township High School to meet the Northstar medivac helicopter. Paramedics respond Paramedics from Chilton Hospital met the West Milford First Aid Squad within a few blocks of the McDonald house. According to squad spokesman Liam Glinane, the paramedics must have been on the road to meet the squad so quickly. Glinane explained the paramedics were on the telephone with Chilton Memorial Hospital and were transmitting the EKG strips to a doctor there for reading. The doctor determined the paramedics should withhold treatment and pronounced McDonald dead from penetrating trauma. Glinane said the paramedics are always in contact with the hospital in cases needing advanced life support. The victim’s body was taken to Chilton, Glinane added. The incident, characterized by police as “a freak accident,” is under investigation by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Unit, and investigators from the West Milford Police Department. A pathologist from the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office in Newark was called to Chilton, in Pequannock Township, for the post-mortem. Authorities said Frank McDonald used the pellet gun to shoot squirrels in his back yard. They said he told police he was preparing to scare away a pesky squirrel by firing from a window when the gun went off. The pellet gun uses compressed air to fire the pellets and must be pumped by hand. State law requires a permit to transport the gun, even from the store to a residence. Police did not know if McDonald had a permit. Son with family The couple has a 12-year-old son, Kevin, a sixth grader at Maple Road School, who was taken from the crime scene by relatives. He did not witness the shooting. Kevin’s teacher, Marianne Goering, said she was told by the Maple Road School nurse the boy would be out of school for the week. She said his classmates were very upset and talked about losses in their lives to try to relate to Kevin’s loss. Goering had the class make sympathy cards for Kevin. The school district’s crisis counselor and the Maple Road principal spoke to the class and the children are doing fine, Goering said. Goering described Cheryl McDonald as “a loving, devoted mother.” She said she has spoken to McDonald by telephone and at parent conferences.