May 18, 2013
Six people were shot to death at a rural family's home and a 16-year-old girl is said to be missing with her infant daughter Wednesday as authorities searched for a motive and witnesses.
District Attorney John Andrews said the bodies of the victims, including three teen-age boys, were discovered inside and outside a tin-roofed wooden house and a nearby mobile home after sheriff's deputies were called about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Andrews said there were no suspects and there was no official comment on what might have provoked the violence. No arrests were reported. Authorities also said they were looking for two people described as potential witnesses.
The district attorney did not identify the victims. But Coleman Ball of nearby Greenville said law enforcement officials told him they were all members of his family.
He said his mother, 62-year-old Mila Ruth Ball who lived in the house, was killed, as was his sister, 35-year-old Joann Ball who lived in the mobile home. He said the other victims were Joan Ball's sons -- 18-year-old Jerry Ball, 16-year-old Tony Ball and 14-year-old John Ball -- and Willie Hasley, whose age and hometown were not known, was related to Joann Ball by marriage.
Coleman Ball said Joan Ball's daughter, 16-year-old Janice Ball, and her baby were missing. They lived in a second mobile home at the site, and he said she had a boyfriend who sometimes visited her there. Authorities would not confirm if the 16-year-old and her boyfriend were the two potential witnesses being sought.
The property is near Rutledge about 40 miles south of Montgomery.
