Markle receives 6-year sentence

A Portland man who was charged in connection with his son’s death will serve four and a half years in prison.

Ryan A. Markle, 40, Portland, was sentenced Friday in Jay Superior Court to six years in prison with one and a half years of that sentence suspended after pleading guilty to a Level 5 felony charge of possession of methamphetamine.

As part of his plea agreement, charges for neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a Level 1 felony that carried a potential sentence of 20 to 40 years, with an advisory sentence of 30 years, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, were dismissed.

“Obviously it’s tragic,” said Jay County prosecutor Wes Schemenaur. “I feel horrible for everybody involved. But I think under our criminal laws, this is probably the correct outcome even though it may not be satisfying to everybody, including myself.”

The charges stemmed from the March 6, 2020, death of 3-month-old Hayden Markle, Ryan Markle’s son. Hayden’s mother, Jennifer Young, pleaded guilty in May to a Level 1 felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death and was sentenced to 20 years in Indiana Department of Correction.

Both pleas were reached after evidentiary issues popped up with the case.

Schemenaur explained after Young’s sentencing that while the initial autopsy determined acute methamphetamine intoxication as the cause of death, the pathologist involved later also listed asphyxiation as a cause. 

That detail came during a deposition in Ryan Markle’s case.

Hayden Markle was sleeping with his mother at the time of his death. Ryan Markle was not home at the time.

The fact that the pathologist would not definitively say whether or not methamphetamines were the cause of death complicated the state’s case, Schemenaur said.

“With the cause of death being up in the air … that’s why we ended up pleading to the meth,” said Schemenaur. “Clearly he possessed meth … but without being able to definitively prove the cause of death, I was going to have a problem … (Markle) was at work when the child died. Whatever happened, happened outside of his knowledge.”

Portland police and Jay Emergency Medical Service were called March 6, 2020, to an upstairs apartment at 221 S. Meridian St., Portland, where a 3-month-old child was not breathing. Hayden Markle was transported to IU Health Jay, where he was later pronounced dead. His parents were arrested April 15 following an investigation by Portland police, Jay County Prosecutor’s Office, Indiana Department of Child Services, Jay County Coroner’s Office and Indiana State Police.