PHOENIX (WBFF) — A lawyer was killed on Saturday afternoon in Phoenix while trying to protect his grandchildren from their father, according to Baltimore County Police.
Mark Ryan, 41, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and a gun offense after his father-in-law, personal injury attorney Robert MacMeekin, was found dead on his back patio.
On May 2, around 2:20 p.m., Baltimore County Police said they responded to a report of a shooting in the 14000 block of Sawmill Court.
Upon arrival, they found the 74-year-old MacMeekin suffering from multiple gunshot wounds on the back patio. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told police that Ryan had dropped the gun after the shooting and “just sat in a chair” until police arrived.
Ryan was taken into custody without incident.
MacMeekin’s daughter, who is also Ryan’s wife, said she and her father had gone to the Harford County Sheriff’s Department after a domestic dispute on Friday to seek a temporary protective order against Ryan.
Authorities said that during that incident, Ryan had hit his wife and threatened to pull a gun out from his safe.
Ryan’s wife responded by taking their children from their home in Bel Air to MacMeekin’s home in Phoenix.
According to the charging papers, on May 2, MacMeekin spoke to Ryan on the phone, and told him that the children would be staying with him over the weekend, and that Ryan would be served with a protective order and that he would need to attend a court hearing on Monday.
However, after the call, police said that Ryan confronted MacMeekin on the back patio and pulled out a gun.
Authorities said a struggle took place, and police said it ended with Ryan firing “several rounds” at MacMeekin, killing him.
Ryan agreed to speak to officials without an attorney and “confessed to shooting and killing” MacMeekin because “he was angry that he was keeping his children from him.”
Ryan also denied harming his wife.
Now, he is set for a bail review hearing for a murder charge on Monday afternoon.
Local Story
