Ryan O. Marsh (provided by family)
An Atlantic County mother is looking for answers after her son died in a Cumberland County prison earlier this month.
Ryan Marsh was just 35 years old and had no medical issues before his death April 16 in Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, Maurice River Township, his mother told BreakingAC.
“I have not gotten anything other than it’s under investigation,” Robin Bond said.
The prison did not even call her, she said, instead reaching out to her husband — Marsh’s stepfather — while he was working. He then called Bond.
“And that’s how I found out,” she said.
Bond later called the prison for answers, and told them not to touch her son’s body until she contacted an attorney. But she said when she called Saturday to approve an autopsy, she was told it already had been done six days earlier. No results were given.
“They’re not disclosing anything,” attorney Stanley King told BreakingAC, after he reached out to various entities for answers. “Everyone is completely silent as to what caused this young man’s death.”
The seasoned attorney who has dealt with in-custody deaths before said he has never seen one like this where they would not even allow Bond to see her son.
“If you view the body through the glass, how would that hurt their investigation?” King asked. “I just never heard them denying a mother a chance to see her child. There’s something wrong. That makes my antenna go up.”
The state Department of Corrections did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday.
Marsh, who grew up in Pleasantville and Egg Harbor City, was serving a three-year sentence for fleeing a crash that injured an Egg Harbor Township woman and her passenger in 2023. He was due to be released this summer.
“He was on his way home,” his mother said.
Ryan Marsh (shown in a family photo, left, and his Department of Corrections photo) was due to be released this summer, his mother said.Marsh’s godmother had spoken to him April 15, when he called for her birthday. He did not indicate any issues, his mother said.
The call about his death came at 9:45 the next morning.
"I can’t even sit down," said Bond, who underwent heart surgery April 1. "I’m pacing the floor now."
Marsh's Department of Corrections page lists him as deceased with the date of April 16.
About 1½ hours after the call about Marsh’s death, Bond said her daughter received a call from a blocked number saying, “Check on your people. They just found him dead.”
The person then hung up.
“At that point, the only people who knew were me, my husband and my daughter,” Bond said.
She does not know anyone else in the prison and believes her son stayed to himself. He did not indicate any specific issues, just telling her, “It’s terrible in here.”
King said he is continuing to try to obtain information before he can decide on the next step.
“When I heard I was just basically trying to help them,” he said of the family. “I’m still trying to help them find out what happened to their child.”
King said the prison has said the body can now be released to the family, but still will not give any information on the circumstances surrounding Marsh’s death.
He said he knows cause of death may require an investigation, but they at least should be able to indicate what led up to it.
“I hope and pray that it’s natural and nothing nefarious happened,” King said. “Their conduct makes me highly suspicious. I can’t think of a reason they would not disclose the information we’re seeking.”
He has advised the family that they should have an independent medical examiner conduct another autopsy as well.
