A man accused of fatally shooting his friend while "messing around" in a forest at Parawa, south of Adelaide, has had the charge against him dropped.
Hayden Dove Fenton, 29, was charged with committing an act to endanger life after his friend — 21-year-old Bailey Davenport — was shot in the head in July last year.
At the time, police said the victim was one of five friends who had taken a gun out to the wilderness area, 40 kilometres west of Victor Harbor, while they chopped wood.
The area is known for deer hunting, which is illegal, but following the incident Detective Inspector Greg Hutchins said the group was "messing around".
After he was shot, Mr Davenport was driven to the South Coast District Hospital by friends and later flown to the Flinders Medical Centre where he died the following day.
In April, Mr Fenton's lawyer Stacey Carter told the court the charge against her client should be dropped because his DNA was not detected on the gun.
At the time, police said they believed the man was shot with a .22 rifle and found a gun matching that description in the area of forest.
Ms Carter told the court her client had told police where the gun was.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court was expected to hear submissions on why Mr Fenton had "no case to answer" this week.
But the matter was called on a day early, and prosecutors announced they were not proceeding with the charge.
