GUILTY AL - Six Ball family members murdered at Crenshaw County farm, 23 Aug 2002

Westly Devone Harris was convicted of two counts of murder made capital for the killings of Mila Ruth Ball and John Ball because the killings occurred during the course of a burglary... two additional counts of murder made capital for the deaths of Joanne Ball and Tony Ball because the killings occurred during the course of a burglary;  and one count of murder made capital because the six victims in this case - Mila Ruth Ball, Willie Haslip, Joanne Ball, Jerry Ball, Tony Ball and John Ball - were killed pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct...

After the penalty phase of the trial, the jury recommended by a vote of seven to five that Harris be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole... A sentencing hearing was held, after which the trial court overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced Harris to death...

Mila Ruth Ball, 65, was the matriarch of a family that lived on a farm in Moody's Crossroads in Crenshaw County. Her daughter, Joanne, 35, was married to Willie Haslip, 40;  they lived in a trailer on the farm with their three sons, Jerry Ball, 19, Tony Ball, 17, and John Ball, 14. Joanne and Willie also had a daughter, Janice Ball, 16, who lived with her grandmother Mila Ruth in the house at the farm. Janice was 14 years old when she met then-19-year-old Harris. Three months after the two met, Janice became pregnant, and the two had a daughter...

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