A Maryland attorney took in his daughter’s family. His son-in-law then fatally shot him, prosecutors say

By Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — Mark Thomas Ryan arrived at his in-laws’ Phoenix, Maryland, home with a loaded handgun tucked in his pocket.

Hours earlier, local law enforcement had issued a temporary restraining order against him, after his wife alleged Ryan had struck and threatened her the night before, according to court records.

Now, on the home’s enclosed patio, Ryan confronted his father-in-law, a well-respected Maryland attorney named Robert MacMeekin, who had taken in his daughter and grandchildren.

Ryan pulled out the gun and pointed it at MacMeekin, leading to a fierce struggle for the weapon, according to charging documents.

While both sides are poised to argue the intent and culpability of the May 2 shooting at future court dates, what isn’t up for debate is what happened next.

MacMeekin suffered a fatal gunshot wound, charging documents say.

Ryan dropped the gun and took a seat on that very same enclosed patio, waiting for police at about 2:30 p.m. on the Saturday afternoon.

Once in custody, Ryan “confessed to shooting and killing” MacMeekin, telling investigators he was angry that MacMeekin was keeping him from his children, the charging documents say. He also was angry he was subject to a temporary protective order, since he denied ever harming his wife.

In prosecutors’ telling, Ryan, fueled by his anger, intentionally killed his father-in-law, who was remembered by several friends as a principled and loving family man. Ryan’s attorney says the weapon inadvertently discharged during the scuffle.

“The father-in-law was trying to grasp and take the gun,” Ryan’s attorney, Richard Karceski, told CNN. “I don’t think there was any intent on his part to point and shoot the gun at the decedent.”

Karceski also told CNN his client was fearful for his own life.

“He brought (the gun) for protection because he didn’t know what to expect when he got there,” Karceski said.

Bruce Laird, MacMeekin’s friend for the last 27 years, said his friend loved his family, and there was no way MacMeekin would step aside after Ryan pulled the gun from his pocket.

“I think at that moment, (Ryan) was going to kill someone, and it wasn’t going to be (MacMeekin’s) daughter,” Laird said of the showdown between MacMeekin and his son-in-law.

“Bob knew it may have been his time, but he wasn’t going to let him take his daughter and his grandkids,” Laird said. “He fought for his life, and he fought for his daughter’s life.”

Ryan is being held in the Baltimore County Detention Center after a judge denied his request for bail. He is charged with one count of murder in the first degree and a lesser charge for using a firearm in a violent crime, court records show. Ryan has not yet entered a plea.

Meanwhile, loved ones still trying to process the grief and shock of losing MacMeekin in such a violent way are preparing to say goodbye. A funeral is scheduled Thursday in Timonium, Maryland, according to his obituary. He’s slated to be buried at Lake Michigan in July.

Killing followed alleged domestic incident

The deadly incident started on May 1, when Ryan’s wife later said he had hit her and suggested he was going to grab his firearm from his gun safe, according to the charging documents.

Ryan’s wife fled their home in Bel Air, Maryland – some 20 miles outside Baltimore – and went to MacMeekin’s home nearby, where the couple’s two children were already spending the night, the documents say. The next morning, MacMeekin took his daughter to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, where she got a temporary order of protection against Ryan.

Ryan, meanwhile, had been calling and texting his wife throughout the day, the charging documents say. She eventually handed her phone to her father, who spoke with his son-in-law. Ryan wanted his children to come home.

MacMeekin said no, telling his son-in-law both kids would remain with him through the weekend. MacMeekin also told Ryan he was going to be served with a protective order, and that he needed to appear in court on Monday, according to the charging documents.

That’s when Ryan went to MacMeekin’s home and the deadly confrontation happened, the records say.

MacMeekin’s death marked only the fourth homicide this year in Baltimore County, which does not include the city of Baltimore. The county is currently on pace to see fewer than last year’s 28 homicides, according to statistics shared by the state’s attorney.

Most of the homicides last year stemmed from domestic incidents, involving people who knew each other, according to State Attorney Scott Shellenberger, who noted differences in the circumstances surrounding MacMeekin’s shooting death.

“It’s one step removed. Instead of killing the wife, he killed the father-in-law,” Shellenberger told CNN.

Ryan is expected to face more charges after the case is presented to a grand jury, Shellenberger told CNN. Those might include more extensive charges related to the handgun and possibly assault charges, Shellenberger said.

Ryan is next due to appear in court on May 29 for a preliminary hearing, court records show.

‘He died a hero’

MacMeekin’s friends described him as a high-character person who would stand between his loved ones and danger.

“I wasn’t surprised that Bob took care of his family in that way and was willing to sit down with this guy and resolve it, to mediate it,” said Gary Bernstein, a fellow lawyer and a longtime friend.

Bernstein first met MacMeekin when the pair were young law clerks, he said. They often worked together, sending each other clients they knew the other had the expertise to handle.

Bernstein learned MacMeekin was shot and killed when he received a text from another lawyer, he said. When Bernstein read a news article about his friend’s death, he cried.

Bernstein said MacMeekin was determined to keep his wife and daughter safe.

“He was using the courts. He didn’t go to Bel Air and shoot the guy. He said, ‘We’re going to court and getting a restraining order.’ That’s what we do. We don’t settle it in the street.”

Larry Feldman, a fellow personal injury attorney, was a member of the same Michigan State University fraternity as MacMeekin. The pair would still use their special handshake when they’d see each other at mixers, just as they did at a recent event marking the first day of the baseball season.

“I only saw him in passing and said hello. We didn’t have a significant conversation that day,” Feldman said. “And now I wish I had.”

Laird, meanwhile, said he is left with a mix of fond memories, intense anger and overwhelming grief as he replays the day over and over again in his head.

“I didn’t sleep for almost two days,” he said. “I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept picturing Mark and picturing what happened and the violence of it. It’s been traumatic.”

Laird last spoke with MacMeekin an hour before he was shot, he said, describing it as a typical call where they discussed an upcoming golf trip and some business decisions they needed to make. The call lasted two minutes and 26 seconds and ended the way most of their calls did.

“I said ‘I love you, brother. Enjoy the afternoon,’” Laird told CNN. “And an hour later he was dead.”

Laird said he found out about the shooting hours later, when he turned his phone on and found a text from MacMeekin’s son. Laird was later so distraught talking to MacMeekin’s wife, he said, he couldn’t finish his sentences.

“If they were in danger like that, he would have stepped in front and made sure they had to go through him,” Laird said. “That’s what’s going to get me through this, knowing that he’s a hero. In my mind, he died a hero, protecting his family.”

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