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 hom