HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL.- On Saturday night, January 29, 2022, at a vacation rental home located in St. Augustine, FL, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputy Abigail Bieber, and Detective Daniel Leyden were heard arguing in a bedroom by fellow deputies on vacation with them, just prior to the sound of gunshots.
Both deputies were discovered with fatal gunshot wounds.
The investigation revealed that the gunshot wound to Detective Daniel Leyden was self-inflicted, and he was the sole shooter, killing Deputy Bieber, with who he was in a relationship with. A murder-suicide.
On Wednesday, Chynna Ratner, an ex-girlfriend of Detective Leyden, took to social media to tell her story of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse at the hands of Leyden.
“It’s really painful and it’s taken me five years to talk about it. And it sucks that it took something like this for me to be able to speak about it,” said Ratner in a public social media video post about the murder of Deputy Abigail Bieber.
“We met in late 2015 after I got into a really bad car accident and he was one of the backup officers, it was like two or three o’clock in the morning, my car was totaled, and there were several officers, my dog passed away in the accident, It was really horrific and he (Leyden) was super nice,” said Ratner.
“Such a gentleman. He gave me his jacket. He stayed with me all night made sure I was okay. He took down my phone number to make sure that I was okay after this accident, and followed up with me a few times, then late in December decided to message me on Facebook, and ask me if I’d like to go on a date with him,” said Ratner. “So, of course, I said, yes, because he was a knight in shining armor. He made my terrible experience so much better. We ended up starting to date when I was 21 in January and he was perfect. He opened all my car doors.”
But, Ratner says that things changed with Leyden as time went on and he became controlling and abusive.
“He started isolating me from my friends, my family, taking away my hobbies, not letting me go to the gym, all sorts of things that I didn’t really notice. I just thought he wanted to spend more time with me and that he loved me,” said Ratner.
“He forced me to do a ton of sexual things that I said no to, that I wasn’t comfortable with and he would laugh at me while he made me do them,” said Ratner.
“One of my friends was having a party one night and I hadn’t seen her in a long time. And I begged if I could go and he, yes, and so I went,” said Ratner. “I had to be home by a certain time. I was a few minutes late and I got home and he was banging on my car window. He put his foot underneath of my tire and threatened, that if I tried to leave, I would run him over and he would call the cops on me, and he just kept punching the side of my car.”
“I backed out and he called his friends who were all sheriffs in Tampa and four cop cars pulled up into my apartment complex, with all of their lights on, and they took my statement and they did nothing with it,” said Ratner.
“I told them that he was controlling, I told them that he was trying to stop me from leaving. I told them that he was punching my car. I told them all these things and that I didn’t feel safe. And the only thing that came about it was that his corporal told him that he wasn’t allowed to date me anymore,” said Ratner.
Ratner said that at one point Leyden and one of his friends, another “cop”, broke into her apartment to delete evidence of the abuse, videos, photos, documents, and notes that she had kept.
Ratner’s account of the abuse goes deep, and we have embedded her full story for you to hear for yourself.
We reached out to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and in a statement, they said, “No one, regardless of their occupation, is above the law. Domestic violence, rape, or abuse of any kind is never acceptable at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and we hold our employees to an even higher standard than that of the citizens we are sworn to protect and serve.
“The recent allegations made against Daniel Leyden are deeply concerning and are being investigated, and we welcome anyone with information to please come forward and speak with detectives. Like so many others, we are angry and we are hurting from Leyden’s heinous actions that ultimately claimed the life of one of our own, a beloved young deputy who had a bright future and her entire life ahead of her. While we are constantly producing public service announcements and sharing resources via social media, we cannot stress enough that help is available to anyone who feels they are the victim of domestic abuse. No one should be afraid to come forward, because doing so could save not only your life, but the life of a future victim,” said HCSO.
“If you or someone you know is in need of help, we urge you to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office by calling 813-247-8200 or one of many local resources, such as our community partners at the Spring of Tampa Bay, at 813-247-7233. Help is only a phone call away, ” said HCSO in a statement.
A public records request has been submitted to HCSO on the file of Detective Leyden and we will follow up on this story when we receive that information.
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How will people not be scared to come forward when the person abusing them is a cop?
Seems to me the Hillsborough County Sheriff is complicit in failing to recognize and covering up the long term predatory abuse by one of their officers. If they had exercised due diligence perhaps Abigail Bieber would be alive today. It is disgusting that his brothers in blue allegedly were aware of Daniel Leyden’s history of abuse and covered up for his crimes.
Cops should have a higher standard of behavior given their position. When they don’t meet it – especially in such a major way, they should be dealt with in such a manner that assures it can’t happen again. The corporal is complicit and should be demoted.