On paper, February’s first murder victim was just another young, black male with prior run-ins with the law. After all, Ryan Lamar Holliman was convicted twice of assault, receiving suspended sentences.

But the rap sheet on Holliman doesn’t tell the entire story of a 23-year-old who appeared to be turning his life around. To friends and family, he was a loving father of two who had dreams of becoming an attorney.

“The things any father would do in order to take care of his son or daughter, Ryan would do,” said his father, Roger Holliman, pastor at Berea United Christian Church.

From diapers and formulas to games and prayer, Holliman, by all accounts, took good care of his two young children — Jazmin, 5, and Ryan Jr., 1, who shared a birthday Thursday.

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At 2:20 a.m. on Feb. 1, police responded to the 3600 block of South Hanover Street, where they found Holliman with a gunshot wound to his back. Holliman and two friends had left the nearby Club Mate and were getting into their car when two unknown suspects approached and fired one shot through the car’s back window, according to police. Twenty minutes later, Holliman was dead.

Holliman’s death has devastated his family, his father said.

A Randallstown High graduate who worked at a car wash on Liberty Road and a clothing store in East Baltimore, Holliman lived in a Windsor Mill home with his daughter and his parents. Roger and Yasmin Holliman adopted him from foster care at 3 months.

Last year, Holliman enrolled at Morgan State University with an eye on criminal law. Roger Holliman said his son wanted to be a lawyer and help young people. Ryan Jr.’s birth changed that — at least for a while.

“It was always his determination to go back to school,” his father said. “But he felt that his children were his top priority.”

Growing up, Holliman loved music. He started piano lessons at age 5 and played the drums at his father’s church until he was 20.

“We believe the person who murdered Ryan will be found,” Roger Holliman said. “We have forgiven him. We have forgiven whoever may be involved.”

Murder City: Two die every three days

Examiner Staff Writer Luke Broadwater contributed to this article.

azieminski@baltimoreexaminer.com