SYRACUSE — The father of Maddox Lawrence, the 21-month-old child whose body was found in Onondaga Creek on Tuesday, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler announced at a press conference that Ryan Lawrence, 24, of Valley Drive, has been charged with murder in the second degree. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning in Syracuse City Court and is being held at Onondaga County’s Patrick J. Corbett Justice Center without bail.
Morgan Lawrence said her husband, Ryan, was supposed to pick her up from work at Destiny USA, but Mr. Lawrence notified her that the family car was in the mall’s parking lot. Mrs. Lawrence found the car in the parking lot with the keys in it. Mrs. Lawrence reported her 21-month-old daughter, Maddox, missing around 11:30 p.m. Feb. 20 after she returned home from work to find that neither Maddox nor Ryan was home. Mr. Lawrence is said to have left a message indicating that he planned to hurt himself or Maddox.
An Amber Alert for Maddox was issued the morning of Feb. 21.
Mrs. Lawrence appeared on television the evening of Feb. 21, pleading for her husband to return their child safely.
“Ryan, if you’re listening, please just bring Maddox home,” she said. “Please call. We just want to know that the both of you are safe. The whole family loves you; the whole family wants you both home.”
New York State Police and the FBI joined the SPD in the search for the child. While the search centered around the Inner Harbor area near Onondaga Creek, law enforcement officials also searched vacant lots near Destiny USA, the Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area in Lysander, the village of Baldwinsville and Labrador Hollow in Cortland County.
A 911 caller reported seeing a person matching Mr. Lawrence’s description walking on Downer Street in the village of Baldwinsville late Monday afternoon. The Baldwinsville Police Department apprehended him and he was questioned.
continued — Tuesday morning, Mr. Lawrence aided investigators in the search for Maddox.
Around 12:30 Tuesday afternoon, investigators found a body in a yellow bag in the water along the Onondaga Creekwalk near Bear and Van Rensselaer streets in the city of Syracuse.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Mr. Lawrence killed his daughter Feb. 20 at Labrador Hollow.
Chief Fowler was tight-lipped about most details of the investigation, including the cause of death and details of Mr. Lawrence’s messages to his wife. He stressed that the investigation is ongoing.
“There’s a lot of things that I know as I stand here at this podium that I cannot share with you all,” Fowler said. “We still have a lot to investigate.”
Fowler said Mr. Lawrence is the only suspect at this time.
“Based on our investigation, we’re not looking at any other person at this point,” he said. “This investigation is far from over.”
Fowler thanked his officers, state troopers, the Baldwinsville Police Department, the FBI and local media for their cooperation in the investigation.
“This was big and required a lot of collaboration with law enforcement agencies. This is what we do,” he said.
However, he also cautioned reporters who may have been too focused on getting the story to remember the people involved.
“We are all responsible for reporting information,” Fowler said. “But in our quest to provide information, please let us not forget that there are human beings on the other side of this investigation. I know sometimes it becomes a competition… But let’s remind ourselves of the human beings… if we are not taking those human beings into consideration we are doing those human beings a disservice.”
Fowler said police chaplains are on hand to assist officers, many of whom are parents themselves, who are struggling with the difficult nature of the investigation.
“Every human being’s life has a value,” he said. “We’re supposed to protect our children.”
