Chester Whitmor Ratliff Jr., a 51-year-old resident of Saint Augustine, Florida, passed away on July 29, 2017. Ratliff, known as "Chet" to his friends and family, was found deceased in his fifth-wheel trailer located on a property along State Road 16. The initial discovery of his body prompted an investigation that revealed he had been shot in the head.
Authorities determined that the fatal bullet had been fired from outside the trailer, leading to a deeper probe into the circumstances surrounding his death.
The investigation eventually led detectives to Albert Hamilton Dean III, a 43-year-old man who lived nearby. Neighbors had reported frequent gunshots coming from Dean's property, which raised suspicions. Dean admitted to recently purchasing a rifle and a suppressor, and on the night before Ratliff was found dead, he had fired several shots from his back porch to test the suppressor. The rifle used in the shooting was later discovered to have been stolen from Jacksonville.
Dean was charged with manslaughter with a firearm and dealing in stolen property. He pleaded no contest to these charges in March 2019. During the court proceedings, Dean claimed he was unaware that Ratliff was living in the trailer at the time of the shooting, although he knew the trailer was on the property. The court also examined whether Dean knew the firearm was stolen, as he had purchased it at a price significantly below market value from an individual with a criminal record.
In May 2019, Circuit Judge Howard Maltz sentenced Dean to seven years in prison for the manslaughter charge, with an additional seven-year sentence for the stolen property charge to be served concurrently. The judge acknowledged that Dean was not inherently a bad person but emphasized that his actions warranted a level of punishment. The case highlighted the dangers of reckless firearm use and the legal consequences of dealing in stolen property.
