Inmate Given Second Life Sentence For Jessup Cellmate's Murder

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A Baltimore County man serving a life sentence at the Jessup Correctional Institution received a second life sentence after he fatally strangled his cellmate, the Office of the State's Attorney for Anne Arundel County announced Monday.

Wallace Dudley Ball, of Randallstown, was already serving a life sentence plus 30 years for the September 1994 killing of a teenager who interrupted Ball while he was robbing their home. He was initially sentenced to death in the case, but it was modified in 2000 after several appeals.

The second life sentence will run consecutively. Ball is 64 years old.

The county attorney's office said the murder victim's body was found last year, on Feb. 21, as correctional officers were carrying out routine checks. It was just before 7 p.m. that Ball's 61-year-old cellmate, Michael Griffin, was found dead on the cell floor with a cord wrapped around his neck.

Ball admitted in a written statement that he punched Griffin in the face, and that he had "tied a string around his neck until he was dead." Ball pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in December.

Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement after the sentencing that the case highlighted an "alarming" development in the correctional system.

"This should be a wake-up call that inmate and correctional officer safety needs to be greatly improved," Leitess said.

Officials did not state what caused Ball to act against Griffin, or detail how long the two were cellmates.