A Lakeville man has been found guilty of murdering his pregnant sister and her unborn child after a judge rejected his mental illness defense, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced Tuesday.
Jack Joseph Ball, 25, was found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and premeditated first-degree murder of an unborn child in the May 2024 death of his sister, 30-year-old Bethany Ann Israel, and her unborn child. Judge Bryce A.D. Ehrman issued the verdict after a court trial in Dakota County District Court, meaning the judge, not a jury, decided the case.
The trial was held in two phases. In the first, Ball pleaded guilty on Jan. 21 to both counts. In the second, he raised a defense of mental illness, but the judge found he did not meet his burden of proving it, according to the county attorney’s office.
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A Dakota County grand jury indicted Ball in January 2025 on two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of intentional second-degree murder. According to the county attorney’s office, Israel had gone to her brother’s Lakeville home for dinner on May 23, 2024. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that she died of complex homicidal violence and found she was 17 to 18 weeks pregnant.
Ball remains in custody at the Dakota County Jail. His sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, in Hastings.
A conviction for premeditated first-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the county attorney’s office said when Ball was indicted.
