Background: The area of the crime scene in Phoenix, Maryland (WBAL/YouTube). Inset left: Mark Ryan (Baltimore County Department of Corrections). Inset right: Robert MacMeekin (Fine, Kelly & MacMeekin, P.A.)
A man in Maryland shot and killed his father-in-law when the suspect's wife filed a protection order against him and the older man helped relocate their children, authorities say.
Mark Ryan, 41, has been charged with murder in the death of 74-year-old Robert MacMeekin, Baltimore County's government announced. The defendant was placed in the Baltimore County detention center without bond.
On Saturday at about 2:25 p.m., Ryan and MacMeekin were at MacMeekin's home on the 14000 block of Sawmill Court in Phoenix, Maryland, authorities say. Their presence was reportedly not so much a meeting as a confrontation, with Ryan allegedly armed with a loaded handgun in his pocket.
The younger man was upset that his wife got a temporary protective order against him on Saturday morning, the state argued in court on Monday, according to Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL. She had made claims of domestic abuse.
As Ryan allegedly entered his father-in-law's property, he accused MacMeekin of keeping him from seeing his two sons, ages 2 and 6, respectively. Prosecutors contend that Ryan fired three shots at MacMeekin in front of the children, with one of them striking the older man in the neck.
Police responded to the scene, where MacMeekin was pronounced dead. Ryan was arrested and charged with murder, with authorities saying, "Preliminarily, this incident appears to be domestic related."
Ryan's wife and her mother were also present at the time of the shooting, local Fox affiliate WBFF reported. They said Ryan dropped the gun after the shooting and "just sat in a chair" until officers arrived.
She also allegedly said that on Friday — the day before the shooting — she and her father went to law enforcement to seek the protective order because Ryan had hit her and threatened to grab a gun. She and her father moved the children to MacMeekin's home, and he informed his son-in-law that the kids would be staying with him for the weekend.
The defense — while apparently not disputing the fact that shots were fired — has offered a different version of events. They say Ryan's wife was cheating on him and MacMeekin was the one who initiated a "struggle for a gun."
Ryan's defense attorneys also reportedly claimed Ryan only brought the gun to the property to protect himself and that the children did not see any of the violence.
The wife's protective order against Ryan was reportedly dismissed on Monday. Still, the judge denied him bail or bond at the hearing.
MacMeekin was part of the personal injury law firm Fine, Kelly & MacMeekin, which operated throughout Maryland. Prosecutors said his death was "absolutely needless" and only caused by Ryan's "anger," also alleging that the defendant "admitted to everything," per WBAL.
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