A Chautauqua County grand jury is expected to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring charges against a Sherman man who shot and killed his neighbor in a hunting accident last week.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson confirmed Tuesday that a grand jury will hear the case against Thomas B. Jadlowski either this week or next week in Mayville. The announcement comes almost a week after 43-year-old Rose Billquist was shot while walking her two dogs not far from her home on Armenian Road in Sherman.

Jadlowski, 34, a neighbor to Billquist, told sheriff’s deputies he thought he saw a deer while walking after sunset on the eve of Thanksgiving when he fired a single shot from a pistol.

The shot, from about 200 yards away, struck Billquist — who was quickly rushed to an Erie, Pa., hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson said he will seek an indictment of second-degree manslaughter, a C felony, or criminally negligent homicide, an E felony, when he presents the case to the grand jury. The manslaughter charge — the most serious of the two — carries a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison.

The District Attorney’s Office has been reviewing the case with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Swanson said he wanted to review all the evidence before going to the grand jury. He said the scene on Armenian Road covered about 300 yards in total on snow-covered ground at night. He hoped to have a “complete picture of what happened” before making a decision.

“This case is slightly different than an intentional killing,” Swanson said. “We were on the site as it developed last week. We held the scene overnight and we were there reviewing and processing the scene. We wanted to have a full and thorough picture before moving forward.”

The district attorney said had charges been filed by local police, a change of venue likely would have been needed to a different town court to avoid possible conflicts of interest within the close-knit community.

“We had the luxury of sitting down with all the groups involved and consider everything we felt was reasonable to consider,” Swanson said Tuesday. “Hopefully the grand jury returns an indictment, as with any felony case.”

The Billquist family received friends at the Spitzer Funeral in Sherman on Tuesday. The funeral is scheduled for today at 11 a.m. at the Sherman Community Church, 109 Church St. in Sherman.

Billquist worked at UPMC Chautauqua WCA hospital for 25 years and also volunteered at Chautauqua Hospice and Palliative Care. Her husband, Jamie Billquist, called last week’s shooting “tragic.”

“It’s a shame,” Jamie Billquist told The Post-Journal. “She loved life and was an angel.”

Jadlowski has reportedly spoken to an attorney, though it wasn’t known if the attorney had been retained.