Annapolis, MD – This afternoon in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Wallace Dudley Ball, age 64, of Randallstown was sentenced to Life in prison by the Honorable Judge Pamela Alban for First-Degree Murder in the February 2025 Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) death of his cellmate, 61-year-old Warren Michael Griffin. This Life sentence will run consecutive to Ball’s current life plus thirty-year sentence for a 1994 murder. The defendant entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder on December 16, 2025.
Following the sentencing, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess commented, “It is a tragedy that this Defendant has taken not one, but two lives. Inmates should be able to serve their time with safety and dignity. The number of recent homicides committed in the Division of Correction-where many of the facilities are located in our county- is alarming. This should be a wake up call that inmate and correctional officer safety needs to be greatly improved and there is little solace that we can prosecute a homicide after the fact.”
Leitess added, “My hope is that this Defendant and other dangerous inmates are housed appropriately to ensure the future safety of other inmates as they serve their sentences.”
On February 21, 2025, shortly before 7:00 pm, correctional officers at the Jessup Correctional Institution (JCI) were conducting routine cell checks when they discovered inmate Warren Michael Griffin, age 61, deceased on a cell floor in Building F of the facility. Griffin’s cellmate, Wallace Dudley Ball, was taken into custody. The victim was found with a cord wrapped around his neck and blood stains were found on the cell floor.
The Defendant made a written statement confessing, “While in the cell with Warren Griffin, I punched him in the face then tied a string around his neck until he was dead. Wallace Ball". Investigators' handwriting analysis found that the statement matched the writing sample from a previous note written by the defendant.
Investigators with the Maryland State Police and Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services interviewed facility staff, collected photos and physical evidence. They observed that Ball had staining consistent with blood on his shoes, pants, and hands. Forensic technicians swabbed the defendant’s hands, collected DNA swabs, collected clothing, and took photographs.
The State was represented by Assistant State’s Attorney Shane Nolan. The investigation was led by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) Intelligence and Investigative Division (IID).
Background on Wallace Ball’s 1996 Murder Conviction
In May 1996, a Charles County jury convicted Randallstown handyman Wallace Dudley Ball of first-degree murder and related charges in the September 30, 1994 shooting death of 19-year-old Debra Anne Goodwich in Baltimore County. The trial venue was moved from Baltimore County to Charles County at the request of the defense, at the time a standard result when the State was seeking the death penalty.
An autopsy performed on Goodwich revealed that she had been shot multiple times. Police officers who were called to the scene determined there was forced entry to the rear of the Goodwich home through a window. They also found that the telephone lines had been cut. Investigators concluded that Debra Goodwich had interrupted a burglary in progress.
Baltimore County detectives developed Wallace Dudley Ball as a suspect after learning that Ball and his wife had previously worked for the victim’s father and Ball had done roofing work at the family’s home. Ball was sentenced to death by Prince George’s County Judge Joseph Casula, who had been specially assigned to the case.
In 2000, following several rounds of appeals, a Charles County Judge assigned to the case ordered that Ball could receive another sentencing hearing. His sentence was ultimately modified to Life plus 30 years incarceration in the murder of Debra Goodwich.