On December 19, 2014, David W. Ware Jr., 68, was fatally shot in the marshland near his Grafton, Virginia home while pursuing a fox that had been preying on his chickens. Ware, a semi-retired businessman and former James City County Supervisor, was found with a gunshot wound to the chest; his own shotgun was beside him, unfired.

At the same time, 21-year-old Brandon Bartlett, who lived on Lakeside Drive bordering Ware’s property, had returned from a duck hunt and, seeing movement in the marsh he believed to be a deer, fired a single shot that struck Ware. Bartlett and his girlfriend went to Ware and Bartlett called 911; Ware was pronounced dead at the scene. The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office investigated and determined the shooting was accidental but resulted from reckless behavior because Bartlett failed to properly identify his target.

The initial charge of second-degree murder was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter; in July 2016 Bartlett received a 10-year sentence with most of that term suspended, leaving about 18 months to be served. Did anyone who knew Ware or hunted in that area at the time notice unusual activity in the marsh that day?