Syracuse, N.Y. – It was one year ago today that a mother's plea became the heartbreak of the Syracuse community.
Morgan Lawrence made an impassioned plea a year ago Tuesday to her husband Ryan to return home with their 21-month-old daughter Maddox.
Unfortunately, the tragedy that rocked the Syracuse community to its core had already happened. Maddox was murdered by her father Ryan Lawrence in a remote wooded area of Cortland County. He admitted to dumping her body in Onondaga Creek just north of Syracuse's Inner Harbor.
Hundreds of people in the Central New York community built a memorial of candles, balloons, and flowers near where police divers recovered Baby Maddox's body.
A permanent memorial to Baby Maddox has since been built along the Creekwalk near where Police divers recovered the 21-month-old's body.
Ryan Lawrence took a plea deal over the summer and is now serving a sentence of 25-to-life for murdering his daughter.