PHOENIX, Md. — The grandchildren, ages two and six, were already sleeping over at the house on Sawmill Court in Phoenix when their mother sought refuge there with them after a fight with her husband allegedly turned violent prompting her to seek a protective order the very next day.
Hours later, police responded there for reports of a shooting.
“Once they were on scene, they located a victim that suffered injuries consistent with a gunshot wound,” said Baltimore County Police Det. Trae Corbin, “The individual was pronounced deceased at the scene and the suspect was actually at the scene as well and he was taken into custody.”
Bail denied for man charged with killing father-in-law
Prosecutors say 41-year-old Mark Ryan had struck his wife during an argument the night before and had threatened to get a gun.
They add he showed up at the house determined to pick up his children when he pulled out a 38-caliber handgun and pointed it at his father-in-law, 74-year-old Robert MacMeekin, ultimately shooting him in the neck and throat area before dropping the weapon and waiting on police to arrive.
While Ryan faces a first-degree Murder charge, his attorney argues that when he went to the house, he had no intention of killing anyone.
“A struggle ensued for the gun,” said Attorney Richard Karleski, “He didn’t pull it out and point it at the father-in-law. The father-in-law apparently saw the gun in his possession in his pocket and tried to get it. In the course of the struggle, not only were the shots fired by whom I can’t tell you for sure, but there were three shots that were fired. Nothing was intentional here.”
The attorney claims Ryan only brought the gun with him for self-defense, claiming both his wife has a right-to-carry permit and his father-in-law was known to have guns, but court records reveal that Ryan confessed to the killing claiming he was angry that his father-in-law was keeping his children from him.
