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Man accused of murdering his own uncle in Camden County’s first homicide in 10 years

Posted at 5:14 PM, May 14, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-15 06:02:45-04

Camden County, NC - A Dare County man murdered his uncle, called 911, then fled to Canada where he was arrested, according to Camden County Sheriff’s deputies.

It was the first homicide in the county in ten years.

“When it’s family, you just can’t even wrap your head around why. We still don’t know why,” says the victim’s daughter Tammy Olving.

Her father, 65-year-old William Ball, was shot to death inside the Camden County home. The suspect was William’s nephew and Tammy’s cousin, 33-year-old James Ball.

“It’s very, very hard. I was very close to my dad so it’s been very hard,” Tammy says.

The hardest part, she says, is piecing together what happened.

She says James was in town for a court hearing. He was charged with DWI last year in Dare County and William offered to let him stay at his home in Avery Shores.

But the next morning, her father was dead.

Investigators say James called 911.

“His story was that he woke up and found my dad unconscious so everyone is assuming it was a possible suicide,” Tammy says.

That right there, she says, was a red flag. In the 911 call, deputies say James told the operator he couldn’t find the gun. But Tammy says detectives did find the gun.

“I was told the gun was found in the room pretty much on the other side of the room,” she says.

In the end, Camden County investigators say they have enough evidence to charge James Ball with murder. But James is now awaiting extradition from Canada.

He was arrested at the border a few weeks ago and has a June 2nd court date there. After that, deputies hope to transport him back to North Carolina.

In the meantime, all Tammy can do is wait.

“The only thing that keeps me going is knowing how close I was with my dad and making sure that I get justice for him.”