CONWAY, N.H. – The Maine woman accused of manslaughter in a Christmas Eve shooting would seem an unlikely assailant. She’s a 21-year-old singer-songwriter.

The victim’s identity is just as surprising. He was a devout Buddhist, who, according to one close friend, died from a bullet fired from his own .357 Magnum.

The circumstances of Douglas Silvio’s death are all too familiar, though. The shooting ended a holiday party that stretched into the morning’s wee hours – and included both alcohol and a handgun.

Though authorities are saying little about their case against Sara Hersh of Fryeburg, interviews indicate that the shooting was, like so many others, a tragic, alcohol-influenced accident.

In charging Hersh with manslaughter, police are saying they believe she is criminally responsible for recklessly causing Silvio’s death, even though she did not have malicious intent.

The owner of a Conway tattoo studio where the Christmas party was held said it began as a small, merry event that included drinking and music-making.

Philip “Crow” Laverriere Jr., who owns Crow’s Creations, a tattoo and piercing parlor on the road from Maine to North Conway’s ski mountains, said he had gone to sleep by the time of the shooting, around 6 a.m.

A short time later, Silvio, a 43-year-old North Conway man and close friend of the tattoo shop owner, was dead.

“Everything was pleasant the whole night. And the only thing that was different was five seconds,” Laverriere said.

Hersh, who recently moved to Maine from California, declined an interview request from the Ossipee, N.H., jail where she was being held on $30,000 bail. She was later bailed out, a jail supervisor said Friday. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.

Hersh’s attorney said she has no criminal record – and did not intend to hurt the victim.

“Sara had no ill will whatsoever toward Doug Silvio,” said Jesse Friedman, a public defender in Laconia, N.H. “She’s never touched a gun before in her life.”

Only two other people attended the party, and neither has spoken publicly about what happened. An unidentified 911 caller said the shooter did not know the gun was loaded, according to a police log, the Conway Daily Sun reported.

Laverriere described the revelers as an arty crowd, unlike the unsavory stereotypes that are often associated with tattoo parlors.

Hersh, who worked at the 99 Restaurant in North Conway, could pass as an art student, with fashionable black glasses and a close-cropped haircut.

She is a kind, fun-loving young woman with a beautiful voice, Laverriere said. During the party, Hersh was playing rockabilly songs on acoustic guitar, and others were contributing.

“I was singing, Sara was singing. We were having a really good time,” Laverriere said.

After the shooting, Hersh cried and appeared to be in complete shock, he added.

“She was devastated by it and very, very remorseful almost immediately,” Laverriere said.

The victim was a husband and father who once owned a North Conway gift shop. He was devoted to Tibetan ways, his close friend and relatives said.

After Silvio’s funeral at a local church Thursday, Dale Silvio, the victim’s wife, said her husband did not have any tattoos. But he wanted to get one that read “Om Mani Padme Hum,” a Buddhist mantra.

“I will miss him, and I will love him ’til the day I die,” said Silvio, who believes the shooting was accidental. “But we’re Buddhists, so we know that it’s karma.”

Inside the tattoo studio, where a Christmas tree is decorated with tinsel and candy canes, Laverriere said he thought of his friend as deeply spiritual, somewhat like a monk.

Laverriere was therefore shocked, he said, that Silvio brought a loaded weapon to the party. He said he had no idea that Silvio even owned a gun.

Police and prosecutors have not confirmed that the .357 Magnum belonged to the victim. However, Hersh’s attorney said in court that it was Silvio’s weapon.

Silvio’s 19-year-old daughter, Brittany, declined to comment on whether the gun was her father’s.

Nearby, at the Conway Police Department, an affidavit that could shed more light on the circumstances of the shooting remained sealed. Inside the station’s front door was a display that might have prevented the tragedy – a box of free gunlocks.