MARK EDWARD WARD - 7 months (2010)/ Convicted: Stepfather; Ryan Joe Clarke - Lakeland FL

Stepdad charged in Lakeland baby's critical injuries





LAKELAND - A 29-year-old man was charged Monday with inflicting life-threatening injuries on his 7-month-old stepson, officers said.
Ryan Joe Clarke was charged with attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse, Lakeland police said. He was taken into custody Monday afternoon in Orlando, where he lives, Lakeland police said.

"The investigation indicated that the suspect intentionally inflicted injuries on the infant while he was in his care," police said in a statement.
Investigators say the child's grandmother, Bridgit Ward, who is the child's legal guardian, came home from work Saturday to find the baby not breathing in the care of his stepfather.
Clarke and Ward rushed the baby to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for treatment, but his injuries were so severe he was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital where he remains in critical, life-threatening condition, authorities said.
Outside police headquarters in downtown Lakeland Monday the child's mother, Rian Basarich, said her son, Mark Edward Ward, has a fractured skull. "They found out that his skull had been bashed in, and he's in a coma," Basarich said. "I'm afraid he's not going to make it."
Basarich said her husband claimed the baby's injuries were accidental. "He's not violent at all, and he's never done anything. He said he dropped him on accident on the kitchen floor," Basarich explained.
Lakeland police say the baby's injuries are not consistent with any kind of accident.
Rian Basarich said the prognosis for her son isn't good. "They said today it's very grim that he's probably not going to make it, and they said if he does he'll never be the same again."

ORLANDO, FL -- The stepfather of a 7-month-old boy admitted to hitting
the child's head against a wall at least four times, according to
documents obtained by media representatives.

29-year-old Ryan Clarke
was in an Orange County court Tuesday after being arrested for the
felony attempted murder and aggravated child abuse of 7-month-old Mark
Ward. Clarke was ordered to be held without bond.

According to
the paperwork filed for Clarke's warrant, Ward was at home recovering
from bronchitis Saturday with Clarke when his grandmother discovered
him wheezing and cold to the touch.

He was taken to Lakeland
Regional Medical Center as a result. Doctors at Lakeland Regional
quickly discovered the child had a fractured skull and flew him to
Tampa General Hospital.

It wasn't until police recorded a
conversation with Clarke and an unidentified person that investigators
believe they got their answer.

Police say Clarke admitted his
frustration with the child's cries and his relationship with Basarich
was too much, so he hit the baby's head against the wall about four
times.

As he awaits extradition to Polk County, doctors at Tampa General Hospital are treating the baby's severe head injuries.

The paperwork says trauma to the boy's eyes is so severe, doctors say he may be blind...if he survives.

During that phone conversation recorded by police, documents say Clarke talked about committing suicide several times.

Critically Injured Lakeland Baby Taken Off Life Support, Prosecutor Says

BARTOW | A baby Lakeland police say was injured by his stepfather was taken off life support today and is expected to die, a prosecutor said in court.

Seven-month-old Mark Ward suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain after he was banged against a wall, according to the Lakeland Police Department.

Charges against Ryan Joe Clarke, 29, of Orlando, will likely be upgraded if the baby dies, Assistant State Attorney John Aguero told County Judge Robert Williams Jr. during a hearing this afternoon.

Currently, Clarke faces charges of attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse.

He is being held without bail at the Polk County Jail, where he was booked at 2:16 p.m. on Wednesday.

Police said Tuesday that Clarke became frustrated with his wife's crying baby and the status of their

relationship and he pounded Mark's head against the wall, severely injuring him.

Police reports detailed the course of the Lakeland police investigation, from the moment Mark's caretaker, his grandmother, Brigit Ward, returned home and found the baby wheezing, to Clarke's recorded phone call with his wife, Rian Basarich, that led to his arrest.

Basarich, who also lives in Orlando, had asked her mother Feb. 28 to take care of the baby until she could "straighten her life" out, the report said. Ward obtained legal, temporary custody and was taking care of Mark at her home.

Here's what Lakeland police reports say occurred:

Clarke arrived at Ward's apartment on Pyramid Parkway in Lakeland about 6:15 a.m. Saturday. He was to baby-sit Mark after his mother-in-law went to work about 6:30 a.m. The baby had bronchitis, but was doing better Saturday when Clarke arrived.

When Brigit Ward arrived back home from work about 8:30 p.m., she checked on her grandchild and found him "cold to the touch," taking short breaths and wheezing. She and Clarke took Mark to Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

That's when authorities first learned something was amiss.

A physician determined Mark had a fractured skull and was bleeding on the brain. He was flown to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition. Clarke claimed he did not know what had happened to Mark.

He told police several stories, a report said.

First he said he gave Mark a bottle and put him to sleep, giving him another bottle at 11 a.m. when he awoke.

Mark stayed awake until about 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m., then fell asleep and woke up screaming about 6 p.m.

Clarke picked him up and tried to calm him, but he said Mark looked like he was in a lot of pain and his "eyes were kind of funny," the report said. Mark refused another bottle and went back to sleep about 7 p.m. He denied giving Mark a bath or doing anything to hurt him and said that immediately before Mark awoke screaming, he had heard a "thump." When Ward came home, Mark was breathing heavily and wheezing.

When Clarke was told about the extent of Mark's injuries, he admitted that Mark had hit his head while Clarke was giving him a bath. When he was told that Mark's injuries were more severe, Clarke said Mark had hit his head when he accidentally dropped him on the kitchen floor, the report said.

About 4:35 a.m. Sunday, detectives met with Dr. Tracy Chang at Tampa General Hospital and learned that Mark had severe edema, retinal detachment and that his brain had shifted from left to right. After surgery, he was still in critical condition.

About 11 a.m. Monday, detectives asked Basarich to call Clarke and recorded their conversation. During the call, Clarke admitted that he had hit Mark's head against the wall four times out of frustration, the report said. He said he was frustrated because Mark was crying and because of the status of their relationship. He also talked to Basarich about committing suicide, the report said.

Clarke was arrested on a warrant Monday night on charges of attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Neither Basarich nor her mother could be reached for comment Tuesday.

LAKELAND - A 7-month-old boy died today after being abused by his stepfather earlier this week, Lakeland police say.
His stepfather, Ryan Joe Clarke, previously had been charged with attempted felony murder and aggravated child abuse. Now that Mark Edward Ward has died, police say, additional charges might be filed.
Clarke, 29, told a witness that he had hit the crying baby's head against a wall about four times "out of frustration," according to an arrest report. The child suffered a fractured skull and was taken to Tampa General Hospital.
Clarke gave detectives conflicting accounts of what happened to the baby, but during a Monday phone call to a witness that was recorded by detectives, he said he hurt the baby out of frustration over the baby's crying, according to the arrest report.

Rest In Peace Mark Edward Ward

What a cutie he was. So very, very sad...

When Mark "Eddie" Ward was born eight months ago, Ryan Joe Clarke
clipped his girlfriend's umbilical cord and embraced his soon-to-be
stepson like a father.

But the man who helped usher
in the baby's life may now be charged with his murder.
After declaring the baby brain
dead, doctors took him off life support Thursday.
Clarke, 29, was baby-sitting Saturday and
pounded the baby's head against the wall in a fit of frustration,
Lakeland police investigators said in an arrest affidavit.
Assistant State Attorney John
Aguero said Polk prosecutors expect to upgrade criminal charges against
the Orlando man. Clarke currently faces charges of attempted felony
murder and aggravated child abuse and is being held without bail at the
Polk County Jail, where he was booked in Wednesday afternoon after being
arrested in Orlando on Monday night.
The baby's family was dealing Thursday with shock and
grief.
"The world seems
like a really sad, empty place to me right now," said grandmother Brigit
Ward. "I'm never, ever going to be the same without Eddie."
Clarke had baby-sat the baby all
day Saturday before Ward returned home from work about 8:30 p.m. and
found the baby cold and wheezing. Because he had been sick with
bronchitis, Ward assumed he had caught pneumonia. She urged Clarke to
drive the three to the hospital, where she learned the child was
suffering from a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain. The hospital
called police.
Clarke had
frequently babysat his step-son because Ward was given full custody of
the baby in February.

He met Ward's daughter, Rian
Basarich, when she was four months pregnant with the boy, and he was
present for the birth.
"He
cut the umbilical cord and everything. He acted like he was completely
in love with Eddie," Ward said. "He was always hugging him and kissing
him and talking to him. He would give him his baths, feed him, buckle
him into the car. He and Rian would take him to the store together."
The couple moved in with Ward
when they moved from Minnesota to Lakeland in August. The baby's
biological father was not part of his life, Ward said.
Clarke and Basarich got their
own apartment in Orlando and married in December, she said. Clarke, who
worked on computers for a living, had a quiet and calm personality.
He told police he was
frustrated about his relationship, but Ward said the couple didn't have
any major problems. She and her daughter don't understand what would
have motivated him to hurt the baby, she said.
"He was my son-in-law, so I thought I knew him.
Obviously, no one knew him," she said. "She (Basarich) is completely
devastated that she ended up marrying someone that would do such a
horrific thing to her son."
Ward and her daughter shared custody until the end of
February when Ward took Eddie in full time so Basarich could "straighten
her life out," police reports said.
Ward, who has another grown daughter, said she loved
living with the child in her Lakeland apartment. The brown-haired baby
was always smiling, babbling and had begun the early stages of learning
how to walk by rocking on his knees, he said.
"It was like a dream come
true having Eddie live with me. He just lit up my world. He was my
biggest piece of happiness in my life," she said.
Doctors declared Eddie brain-dead Wednesday, the
day he turned 8 months old. They salvaged some of his organs in surgery
Thursday.
The loss of his
life helped four others. According to Ward, his heart went to a
1-year-old girl in Georgia, his liver to a 6-month-old, his kidney to an
adult and his intestines to a 4-year-old girl.
"I suppose that would be the little comfort
there is," Ward said. "That little Eddie's heart will beat on."

Phone records show Lakeland infant died when father slammed the boy against a wall



Posted: 06/14/2010

LAKELAND, Fla. - A chilling phone call between a mother and a step father who says frustration forced him to slam a 7-month-old baby against a wall has been released.

On Monday, prosecutors released the phone call between stepfather Ryan Clarke and mother Rian Baserich. In the 34 minute controlled call Baserich is trying to get Clarke to confess about what happened to 7-month-old Mark Ward.

"He was crying and fussing a lot,"said Clarke.

Most of the conversation, Baserich is carefully persuading him give her information and dealing with a clearly volatile Clarke.

"I wanna die Rian,"said Clarke who police say was highly suicidal in March when Ward was at Tampa General Hospital with swelling in the brain. Investigators were trying to try Clarke to the case and had Baserich call to ask him why.

About 20 minutes into the call, Clarke gives an explanation

"Did you shake him Ryan?" Asked Baserich.

Clarke replied "I bumped his head really hard."

Clarke begins to explain on the tape he bumped his head on a wall about 4 or 5 times then placed the baby down on the bed who he says stops crying.

Trying to stay together mother Baserich pulls what prosecutors call the motive out of Clarke.

Clarke admits he was fed up with their relationship and angry that the 7-month-old was crying.

"Emotions bottled up and they just came out."

Ryan Clarke is still at the Polk County jail awaiting trial.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_polk/lakeland/released-phone-call-reveals-lakeland-infant-died-when-father-slammed-the-baby-against-a-wall-

Stepfather in Bartow gets 40 years in baby's 2010 death

Associated Press The Associated Press
Published: October 26, 2012  
Updated: March 18, 2013 at 07:23 PM

BARTOW - A central Florida stepfather has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing his infant son two years ago.

Before the judge issued his ruling on Thursday, Ryan Clarke apologized to the relatives of 7-month-old Mark Ward, saying he would take it back if he could. The child's grandmother called Clarke a "devil" and urged the judge to give him the maximum sentence allowed, which was 40 years.

Police say Clarke was watching the baby at his mother-in-law's home on March 6, 2010. The Ledger of Lakeland reports Clarke later told police he lost control when the child was crying and banged his head against the wall four times. Doctors later determined the baby had a fractured skull and was bleeding on the brain.

http://tbo.com/news/stepfather-in-bartow-gets--years-in-babys--death-545169