This archive report was first published on 21 August 2019.
On September 18, 2017, a shocking incident of armed robbery took place in Clinton, with a thief targeting a jackpot winner who had just won $5,000 (approximately Sh515,000).
According to authorities, the thief, identified as Thomas Ray Ball Jr., watched the jackpot winner get into her car from the casino and followed her for over 50 miles to an ATM where she was trying to deposit her winnings.
At the ATM, Ball approached the woman, pulled a gun on her, and took her winnings. The woman was able to drive away and found help from an officer at a nearby gas station.
Madison and Rankin Counties' District Attorney John K. Bramlett, Jr., stated, “Mr. Ball thought he saw an easy target when he saw a single woman leaving the casino late at night and followed her for over an hour with the sole purpose of robbing her at gunpoint.”
Ball was identified using surveillance footage from the casino and his cell phone tower location from the night of the incident.
On August 19, 2019, Thomas Ball pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
