A Columbia man facing a first-degree murder charge is asking a judge to lower his bond a second time.
Gerrod Ball filed a motion in Marion County Circuit Court Jan. 23 asking for his bail to be reduced from $450,000 to $100,000.
It had initially been set at $1 million following Ball's arrest in June 2019, but Circuit Judge Prentiss Harrell agreed to drop it in October to $450,000 after Ball filed a previous motion for bond review.
The latest court filing says Ball and his family have not been able to raise enough money to make that bail.
The 40-year-old remains in the Marion County Jail, accused of fatally shooting Jaron Burton, 30, inside a home on Barbara Drive in Popetown. Court documents filed by prosecutors say he sent threatening text messages to a former girlfriend before forcing entry into her bedroom and firing shots. Burton returned fire, and officers found Ball walking in the area with a gunshot wound shortly after the shooting, according to the court documents.
Ball's motion for reducing his bond argues that he has never previously been charged with a felony, is not a flight risk and has family who are respected members of the community. Ball would agree to be placed on electronic monitoring if released, the motion said.
The motion said that Ball has now been incarcerated for more than 180 days without an indictment and that new rules by the Mississippi Supreme Court mandate that the senior circuit judge review defendant's cases where they have been jailed more than 90 days without an indictment.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their respond to Ball's second motion for bond reduction. They opposed his first motion, saying the evidence against him is great and that his actions prove he poses a risk to the community.
