The baby's eyelids were swollen with fluid. His head was misshapen and marked by dark reddish-purple bruises. And the 15-day-old boy suffered multiple fractures that stretched 14 inches across his skull.
The infant's father, Kenneth G. Ryan, told police last year that he blacked out after inhaling the spray from a can of electronics cleaner and awoke to find his son injured.
Yesterday, the 21-year-old Catonsville man pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and child abuse, admitting that he inflicted the injuries that caused the baby's death.
"As with so many of the cases that we see in the courthouse, this case unfortunately is based on human foibles and human fallibility," defense attorney Jerri Peyton-Braden said after the brief hearing. "We'll be asking the judge to take that into consideration."
But Baltimore County prosecutor Leo Ryan said he will ask a judge to sentence the defendant to two consecutive 30-year prison terms for the convictions.
"I do believe the injuries were deliberate - and that's reflected in the plea," he said.
Kenneth Ryan, whose parents say he has long struggled with drug addiction, did not say much during yesterday's hearing.
He politely answered a series of questions from his lawyers and Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert N. Dugan about whether he understood the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty. And he told the judge that the medications he is taking at the county jail - including anti-hallucinatory and mood-stabilizing drugs - did not cloud his ability to understand the court proceedings.
The baby's mother, Alisia Woody, did not speak during the hearing and quickly left the courtroom when it was over. She could not be reached later for comment.
After Kenneth Ryan was led out of the courtroom by sheriff's deputies, his mother, Ellen Ryan, began to weep softly.
"You did nothing to cause this," Peyton-Braden told her. "This is one of those things that just happened. God only knows why."
Police were called shortly after 8 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2007, to the Dundalk home of the baby's grandmother and mother for a report of child abuse. Officers were told that a 15-day-old infant at the house had a black eye and "something wrong with his head," according to charging documents.
When officers arrived, the baby's grandmother was holding Julian Woody, who was having trouble breathing and gasping for air, according to court documents.
