Suspect in deadly Elkhart County standoff officially charged with murder
ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - The man at the center of an 18-hour long standoff in Elkhart County has formally been charged with murder after police found a dead 2-year-old boy inside the home.
In addition to murder, 37-year-old Ryan Snyder has been charged with two different charges for neglect of a dependent, one of which resulted in death, after police were called Saturday night to a home in the 57000 block of Pendleton Drive to check the welfare of Snyder and his two children.
WNDU 16 News Now is learning what led up to that welfare check and more on what happened during the standoff in court documents obtained late Tuesday afternoon.
Deputies from the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office were called to the home around 9:05 p.m. Saturday on reports that Snyder was threatening to kill his children. The caller is said to be the mother of the two children.
The mother told police that she was out of state but had dropped the children off at the home the day prior for Snyder’s visitation opportunity. as they had an ongoing custody case. She says both children were in good health at the time of their arrival.
The mother told investigators that Snyder had been manic in recent weeks, saying things like “I’m going to ruin your world” and “Your world is going to be rocked.” However, she said he was unusually and uncharacteristically pleasant during their interaction. She also first thought he was talking about their custody situation.
The following day, the mother received a video call from Snyder in which he allegedly verbalized intentions to kill their children. During the call, he reportedly handed the phone to their 4-year-old daughter. She told the mother that Snyder told her to say that “Dad said she was not going to see their children again.”
The mother told investigators that Snyder told her he loved her before saying “I’m sorry I have to do this.” She claims he wanted her to be on the video call when he killed the children, but she hung up and called police.
According to charging documents, a deputy arrived at the home around 9:30 p.m. and knocked on the front door but got no response from Snyder. The deputy said he saw a black AR-15 style rifle with a drum magazine on the kitchen table while looking through the window.
Elkhart County Regional SWAT was called to the scene just before 11 p.m. and began hours of negotiations that ultimately failed.
Police say they noticed Snyder wearing body armor and carrying a rifle on several occasions. They also heard gunfire inside the home at times and say Snyder fired at least one round outside of the home through a wall where officers were staged.
Indiana State Police SWAT was called to the home several hours later to assist with the negotiations. However, Snyder continued to ignore police and allegedly shot at drones that officers had deployed inside the home.
At around 3:30 p.m., ISP SWAT made its way into the home around 3:30 p.m. Sunday and took Snyder into custody. That’s when they found the 2-year-old boy dead in a basement bedroom and a 4-year-old girl who was alive and hiding.
According to court documents, the boy had bruising to his left bicep, left chest, left hand, left foot, right hand, and right foot. An autopsy on the boy has been completed, but investigators say the results won’t be confirmed for several weeks. Therefore, no official cause of death has been determined yet.
As for the 4-year-old girl, she was treated at the scene and released to a relative.
Snyder was taken to the hospital to be checked out before he was taken to the Elkhart County Jail. He was given no bond and is expected to make his initial court appearance on July 18.
The incident has left neighbors shaken and in disbelief. In turn, they will be holding a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in memory of the boy, who they identified as Jaxon Snyder. It’s happening in front of the home where the standoff happened.
Neighbors are asked to bring a candle or anything they’d like to lay in front of the home to remember Jaxon. Some neighbors will also be changing their porch lights to blue in Jaxon’s honor.
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