A 64-year-old inmate already serving life plus 30 years for a 1994 murder received a consecutive life sentence Monday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court for strangling his cellmate at Jessup Correctional Institution.
Wallace Dudley Ball, of Randallstown, pleaded guilty Dec. 16, 2025, to first-degree murder in the Feb. 21, 2025, death of 61-year-old Warren Michael Griffin. Judge Pamela Alban imposed the sentence this afternoon in Annapolis, making it run consecutive to Ball’s prior term.
The case underscores ongoing safety concerns in Maryland’s Division of Correction facilities, many located in Anne Arundel County.
On Feb. 21, 2025, shortly before 7:00 pm, correctional officers conducting routine cell checks in Building F at JCI discovered Griffin deceased on the cell floor. A cord was wrapped around his neck, and blood stains marked the area. Ball, his cellmate, was taken into custody at the scene.
Ball provided a written confession: “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.” Handwriting analysis confirmed it matched samples from the defendant.
Maryland State Police Homicide Unit investigators and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Intelligence and Investigative Division led the probe. They interviewed staff, collected photos and evidence, and noted blood-like staining on Ball’s shoes, pants, and hands. Forensic technicians swabbed his hands for DNA, gathered clothing, and photographed the scene.
Assistant State’s Attorney Shane Nolan represented the state.
After sentencing, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess addressed the broader implications. “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 continued, “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.”
Ball’s prior conviction stems from the Sept. 30, 1994, shooting death of 19-year-old Debra Anne Goodwich in Baltimore County. A Charles County jury convicted him in May 1996 of first-degree murder and related charges after the trial venue shifted at the defense’s request amid a death penalty pursuit.
Goodwich interrupted a burglary at her home; intruders forced entry through a rear window and cut phone lines. She was shot multiple times, per autopsy findings. Ball, a handyman who had done roofing work at the family’s home along with his wife, became a suspect through connections to the victim’s father.
He received a death sentence from Prince George’s County Judge Joseph Casula, specially assigned. Appeals led to a 2000 modification by a Charles County judge, resulting in life plus 30 years.
This sentencing highlights persistent challenges in correctional safety, particularly in facilities like JCI, where inmate-on-inmate violence has drawn scrutiny from prosecutors.
