Central New Yorkers are currently mourning the loss of baby Maddox, recently found dead. Why does it hit home? It happened in the county where I grew up.
Maddox Lawrence was born in 2014, happy and healthy, but had a potential deadly cancer in her eye, and parents Morgan and Ryan spent plenty of weekends driving to NYC to get treatment. Now, Ryan Lawrence is accused of killing the baby girl that he and his wife desperately struggled to keep alive.
An alum of C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, New York (graduated in 2009), Ryan Lawrence excelled in art and loved the outdoors, but had a history of mental illness, according to recent reports. He worked at Pastabilities in downtown Syracuse and also worked at Teavana in Destiny USA. The district attorney working the case stated that Lawrence may have been jealous of the attention that Maddox was receiving and could have been the cause of the death that took place.
Also, according to a report given on Feb. 23, 2016 around 9 p.m., before Central New Yorkers had even learned that baby Maddox was missing, she had already been killed, burned and hidden at Onondaga Creek. Lawrence has since been charged with second-degree murder. He was taken into custody Monday afternoon and is currently being held without bail.
Ryan Lawrence is no stranger to cancer—his mother, Mary Lawrence, died of kidney cancer when she was 51 in 2008. But, here's the rub—Mary Lawrence devoted much of her life to help victims of violent crime and their families; she became an advocate following the death of her brother in 1990. She was the director of the Victim's Advocate Program in Onondaga County's District Attorney's office for a decade and ended her work in 2003, but continued her work and worked as a therapist in Watertown. Receiving her master's degree in social work at Syracuse University, one can't help but wonder how strange of a turn her son took in the recent actions that have taken place.
Baby Maddox is not the first small child to confront death in an unfortunate manner. In 2008, 20-month-old Imani Jennings was found dead at her home by her mother after the boyfriend of the mother (Anthony Weakfall Jr.) had severely beaten the child. In 2015, 9-week-old baby Chance Walsh was beaten to death by parents Joseph Walsh and Kristen Bury. In November 2013, Joseph Molina was faced with a manslaughter charge due to the death of his 5-month-old daughter, Nataliah Trumble. In April 2015, 3-month-old baby Anthony Lebron died due a brain injury from his father, Felipe Lebron. He was kept alive on life support for six days.
This is not to say that Maddox Lawrence's life shouldn't be looked at gravely, because of course, yes, it should be. Something interesting about Maddox's death is the motive behind her father that differs from everyone else mentioned. In most cases, it had to do with the baby not being quiet or aggravating the father (or mother in the case of Chance Walsh). Anthony Lebron's parents had been in an argument right before his death took place, for example. What makes Maddox's case interesting is that her father had reportedly suffered from mental illness.
What does this mean for the rest of Maddox's family? It means that she's missed, and she's loved, and she won't be forgotten for a long time to come. To deal with cancer at such a young age and go so soon is to not live a life that was meant to be full of potential. To pass because of attention means to lose the life that given to you so soon.
To Maddox and to Maddox's family—the thoughts and prayers of current and past Central New Yorkers are with you. This is a loss that we promise to take on with you, because no one should go through this alone. We are here for you, and we always will be.
