Attorney killed in Phoenix; son-in-law in custody, police say

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A personal injury attorney was killed in Phoenix, and his son-in-law was taken into custody, after what Baltimore County Police described as a confrontation over domestic issues.

Robert MacMeekin, 74, found fatally shot Saturday afternoon at his home on the 14000 block of Sawmill Court, police said. Detectives wrote in charging documents that MacMeekin’s son-in-law, 41-year-old Mark Thomas Ryan, confessed to killing the attorney because he was “angry [his father-in-law] was keeping his children from him” and about a protective order his wife had obtained the day before.

Ryan faces a first-degree murder charge, as well as a misdemeanor firearm offense, and is being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bond. He did not have an attorney listed in court records Monday morning but was scheduled for a bail review Monday afternoon.

MacMeekin practiced at Timonium personal injury firm Fine, Kelly & MacMeekin P.A. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University in 1973 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1975.

Detectives wrote in charging documents that Ryan’s wife, who is MacMeekin’s daughter, had fled her home in Bel Air on Friday after Ryan struck her and suggested that he would retrieve a firearm. She fled to her parents’ house in Phoenix, where her children were staying, and obtained a protective order against Ryan on Saturday morning.

Ryan called his wife throughout Saturday, and the final time, she passed the phone to her father, according to charging documents. Ryan was inquiring about his children, and MacMeekin said he “was going to keep the kids through the weekend,” also noting that Ryan was going to be served with the protective order, charging documents say.

After the call, Ryan drove to MacMeekin’s home and confronted the attorney on the patio, pulling a handgun out of his pocket and pointing it at MacMeekin, according to charging documents. A struggle ensued, and Ryan fired multiple shots, killing MacMeekin, police wrote. Ryan sat down at the patio until he was taken into custody, according to police.

This story has been updated with information from charging documents and might update again.

Kendyl Kearly contributed to this article.