Mark Ryan is being held without bond after prosecutors said a family dispute ended with his father-in-law shot dead.

PHOENIX, Md. — A Maryland man accused of killing his father-in-law after his wife sought court protection is being held without bond as prosecutors press a murder case rooted in a family dispute over two young children.

Mark Ryan, 41, is charged in the death of Robert MacMeekin, 74, a Timonium personal injury attorney who was shot May 2 at his home in the 14000 block of Sawmill Court. Prosecutors said the shooting followed claims of domestic abuse, a temporary protective order and an attempt by MacMeekin to help his daughter and grandchildren stay away from Ryan. Defense attorneys have offered a different account, saying the shooting followed a struggle over a gun.

Police said officers were called to MacMeekin’s home at about 2:25 p.m. and found him dead at the scene. Investigators described the case as domestic related in their early public statement. Ryan, MacMeekin’s son-in-law, was taken into custody and later charged with murder. The confrontation came hours after Ryan’s wife obtained a temporary protective order, according to arguments in court. Prosecutors said she had accused Ryan of hitting her the previous day and threatening to get a gun. The state said MacMeekin then helped move the couple’s sons, ages 2 and 6, to his Phoenix home for the weekend.

At a bond hearing in Towson, prosecutors said Ryan arrived at MacMeekin’s property armed with a loaded handgun in his pocket and angry that he could not see his children. They said he accused MacMeekin of keeping the boys from him. The state said three shots were fired, and one struck MacMeekin in the neck. Prosecutors said family members were present, including Ryan’s wife, MacMeekin’s wife and the children. The state said the killing was driven by anger, not fear. Prosecutors called it an “absolutely needless homicide” and said Ryan had “admitted to everything.”

Ryan’s lawyers did not dispute that shots were fired, but they challenged the state’s account of how the gun was used. Defense attorney Richard Karceski said MacMeekin began a struggle after seeing the gun. “This was a struggle. It was a struggle for a gun. It was initiated by Mr. MacMeekin,” Karceski said in court. The defense said Ryan brought the gun to protect himself and was scared because of family tension. His lawyers also said Ryan had no criminal record and that the children were present but did not see the shooting.

The protective order has become a central issue in the case even though it was later dismissed. Prosecutors said Ryan’s wife and her father went to law enforcement the day before the shooting to seek protection because of Ryan’s alleged conduct. Court arguments described the order as having been issued Saturday morning, before the shooting, and served after Ryan was already in custody. The defense argued that because the order was dismissed, it should not be weighed against Ryan. The judge disagreed, saying the allegations in the petition mattered to the court’s decision on release.

MacMeekin was known in Maryland legal circles through Fine, Kelly & MacMeekin, a personal injury firm based in Timonium. Public accounts from the firm and local legal community identified him as a longtime attorney. His death shifted a private family fight into a public criminal case that now includes both the shooting and the earlier claims of abuse. Police have not publicly released a full charging statement through the news reports, and some facts remain contested, including exactly how the gun came out, whether MacMeekin reached for it and what the children saw.

Local reports said Ryan’s wife told investigators that after the shooting he dropped the gun and sat in a chair while waiting for officers to arrive. Prosecutors said he had been told the children would stay with MacMeekin for the weekend. The state described the encounter as a confrontation at MacMeekin’s home rather than a planned meeting. Defense lawyers said Ryan’s wife was cheating on him and that MacMeekin had treated him harshly, claims raised as part of the defense account but not proved in court. The judge did not accept those arguments as grounds for release.

The case has since moved beyond the initial police charges. A Baltimore County grand jury later indicted Ryan on a broader set of counts that included first-degree murder, burglary, home invasion and felony assault charges, according to local court reporting. The indictment expands the case from the original murder and firearm allegations and signals that prosecutors plan to argue Ryan unlawfully entered or remained at the property as part of the fatal encounter. Ryan remained in custody as the case advanced, and defense counsel had not publicly answered every new allegation.

The shooting shook the Mill Gate area of Phoenix, a northern Baltimore County community where neighbors described the violence as unusual. One nearby resident said his son first thought the sounds might have been hunters, then heard more shots and screaming. The shooting came less than a day after a separate fatal crash involving teenagers in the same broader community, adding to local unease. Police said there was no continuing threat to the public after Ryan was detained. The public record does not show that anyone else was physically injured in the shooting.

For prosecutors, the case centers on a man who allegedly reacted with violence after his wife sought help and her father helped move the children. For the defense, the case turns on whether the fatal shots came during a struggle rather than a planned attack. Those competing accounts will shape later hearings as prosecutors present records, witness statements, gun evidence and family testimony. Ryan has not been convicted. The allegations will have to be proved in court before a jury or resolved through later proceedings.

The prosecution and defense now head toward discovery, where witness accounts, firearm evidence and the protective order timeline are expected to define the next phase of the Baltimore County case.

Author note: Last updated May 24, 2026.