Arrest in unsolved case: Ball charged with perjury and obstruction of justice | News, Sports, Jobs

Kimberly Felton, 28, right, and her son Daniel Felton, 17 months old, were murdered on May 5, 1995. Johnny R. Ball was charged on May 15 and arrested by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the case. (Photo provided)

An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of Kimberly Fulton and her young son Daniel Fulton 29 years ago.

According to Jeff Seevers, detective with the Washington County Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit, “Person of interest” was charged and arrested in connection with the Fulton case.

That person is Johnny R. Ball of Washington County. According to court records, Ball is 62 years old and his address is a post office box in Beverly.

The bodies of 28-year-old Kimberly Fulton and her 17-month-old son, Daniel Fulton, were discovered after a fire in a Palmer Township mobile home on March 5, 1995. An autopsy later revealed that the Fultons died before the fire was set, and investigators believed the fire was set to cover up the murders.

Ball was charged on May 15 with five counts of third-degree perjury and one count of third-degree obstruction of justice, according to Ball’s indictment. Washington County Common Pleas Court records show a warrant for Ball’s arrest was issued on May 15.

According to a press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, cold case investigators made contact with Ball in the Beverly/Waterford area on Tuesday and he was taken into custody and transported to the Washington County Jail without incident.

According to court records, Ball was arraigned Wednesday morning before Judge Mark Kerenyi and released on bail.

The conditions of Ball’s PR bond are that he maintain contact with his attorney, appear at all future hearings, commit no further crimes, and sign a waiver of extradition. The waiver of extradition states that Ball waives any right to extradition from another state if he is arrested for violating his PR bond.

Ball’s indictment states that he knowingly made a false statement under oath or affirmation, or knowingly sworn or affirmed the truth of a false statement previously made.

The indictment describes five instances in which Ball made false statements in connection with the perjury charge.

The indictment states that Ball “stated that at no time on the morning of March 5, 1995 was he in the vehicle with Scott Hickman.”

In relation to Ball’s charge of obstruction of justice, the prosecution also refers to Ball’s statement that he was never in the vehicle with Hickman on the morning of March 5, 1995.

It was also said that Ball “stated that he was on site, used drug hoses and helped put out the fire,” that he “stated that he learned two or three days later that someone had died in the fire on March 5, 1995,” He “could not see the fire from his house because a cornfield blocked his view” and that he “testified that he did not see Soctt Hickman on the morning of the fire on March 5, 1995.”

The date of all indictments is September 12, 2023, or approximately that date.

According to Seevers, Ball was charged with lying to the grand jury.

“Our cold case unit probably started gathering information from people in the area concerning (Ball) last year,” said Seevers. “He repeatedly made false statements.”

Seevers said he could not tell the cold case unit what witnesses had said about Ball’s involvement in the Fulton murders.

He said the unit was “(Ball’s) possible involvement is still being investigated” involving other persons.

According to Seevers, there are people in the area where the murders occurred who have information and are now starting to talk.

“Your help is always greatly appreciated,” said Seevers.

Seevers asked that anyone with information about the Fulton case contact him or Detective Bruce Schuck of the Cold Case Unit at 740-525-2483 and that the identity of anyone who does so will be kept confidential. “Unknown.”

Ball is only the second person arrested in connection with the Fulton case. In 1998, Scott A. Hickman was arrested in connection with the murders but was released after about three weeks because there was no evidence to convict at the time, Seevers told the Times in October 2021.

The case remained unsolved until 2019, when Seevers and Schuck began investigating again. Hickman was charged in October 2021 with four counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder for his involvement in the Fultons’ deaths.

A November 2021 filing in Hickman’s case states that early in the morning of March 5, 1995, Hickman picked up a man who had gasoline in a stored item and they drove to the Fultons’ home.

It was said that the men entered the house where Kimberly Fulton and Daniel Fulton were sleeping in beds at opposite ends of the building.

The indictment states that the man Hickman caught smothered Daniel Fulton and Kim Fulton with a pillow and/or strangled them in their beds. He then poured gasoline into the living room of the house, set it on fire and they fled.

When asked if Ball was the man described in the Bill of Particulars as the one who killed the Fultons, Seevers said: “NO.”

“There is still a clear suspect” Seevers said about the person who murdered the Fultons.

He confirmed that the cold case unit does not yet know the full extent of Ball’s involvement in the murders.

“We are convinced that they are two people” who entered the house, said Seevers.

According to Seevers, he and the other investigators in the case are not sure whether a third person was on guard or something else was involved during the murders.

Hickman’s trial was scheduled for August 2023, but court records show he was declared incompetent to stand trial due to schizoaffective disorder and committed to the Timothy B. Moritz Unit at Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare in Columbus.

According to a status report submitted to the court on March 4, Hickman remains incompetent to stand trial, but there is a significant chance he will be made competent to stand trial with continued treatment.

Seevers said Ball and others’ involvement in the case is still under investigation.

He asked anyone with information about the case to contact him at 740-525-2483.

He says the identities of anyone who contacts him about the case will remain confidential. “Unknown.”

Ball’s trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on August 8, with Kerenyi presiding.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutors, which is acting as prosecutor in the case, said it could not comment on the case.

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