By Link Johnson and
Michelle McIntosh
The Scene staff
Forest Park is mourning the death of a student shot and killed by St. Louis police, who had started chasing him on foot near the Edward Jones Dome after he crashed his vehicle last month.
Cary Ball Jr., 25, was a human services major trying to turn his life around after 5½ years in prison.
He had a 3.86 grade-point average. He made the Dean’s List last fall. He had just returned from a school-sponsored trip to Jefferson City with Phi Theta Kappa honor society.
“That wasn’t no arrogant, belligerent brother,” said Courtney Lester, 59, a friend and fellow student. “He was thirsty for knowledge.”
Lester, a retired Boeing employee, was one of more than 200 people who attended Ball’s funeral on Wednesday in Cool Valley. That evening, Ball was one of 96 students recognized as part of Forest Park’s new Emerging Scholars program.
Earlier in the week, assistant professor Angela Roffle invited a grief counselor to her Group Practice in Human Services class, which had included Ball.
“We are going to do what we have to do to make sure he is not forgotten,” she said.
Many students walked in the room unaware of Ball’s death. Some broke down in tears. Others sat with stunned looks on their faces.
Roffle encouraged the class to focus on the positives of Ball’s life, not his violent death. She described him as someone who motivated others.
“He was about moving ahead,” she said. “He set an example for us.”
Ball’s academic life seems in stark contrast to the person described in a police incident summary from April 24.
Officers reported that Ball led them on a high-speed chase, driving in an erratic manner; that his vehicle struck a parked vehicle later that evening when they tried to pull him over; and that he exited the vehicle, prompting police to pursue him on foot.
“The suspect produced a gun and pointed the weapon at the officers,” the summary reads. “Officers drew their department-issued weapons and ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect refused, and the officers, fearing for their immediate safety, discharged shots, striking the suspect in his torso and arms.”
Ball’s parents, Cary Ball Sr. and Toni Taylor, maintain that the report was falsified. They don’t think their son would pull a gun on police.
Family and friends pointed out Ball had been doing well since serving time in prison for robbery in Florida. He was released in May of 2012.
Ball was 17 when he and two friends were charged in 2004 with robbing four stores at gunpoint in three days. He was released from prison after three years and served 2½ more years after a probation violation involving a misdemeanor.
“(Police) didn’t kill a thug,” said Ball’s brother, Carlos, 24, floor technician at The Lumiere casino. “They killed a man on a mission.”
“Cary was all about school and work,” said his girlfriend, Jayda Ross, 22, a student at University of Missouri-St. Louis and a nurse’s assistant at Martha’s Hands nursing home.
“This ain’t no person that ran the streets,” she added. “He didn’t have time to be out gang-banging.”
The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, pending further investigation.
Ball’s family promises to take legal action now that his funeral is over. In the meantime, Forest Park students and staff are still trying to come to grips with his death.
“We don’t know what happened (on April 24),” said Tracy Hall, vice president of academic affairs. “But regardless of what happened, it’s sad to lose a life.”
Ball attended Sumner High School in St. Louis and later earned his general equivalency diploma. He had two sisters, seven brothers and a 5-year-old daughter, Chanell Sade Williams.
Ball enrolled at Forest Park last summer with plans to become a social worker. He worked part time at a catering company.
“(Ball) was very loving, caring and supportive to all who came in contact with him,” his funeral program stated. “He was very well-mannered and outspoken. He had a smile that would light up any room. He was deeply loved and will be sadly missed.”
In the Human Services class, student Alfonzo Armstrong, 55, read his poem titled, “Ode to Cary Ball.” Then he got so emotional, he collapsed, prompting campus police to call emergency medical personnel.
Armstrong quickly recovered, allowing class to continue. Lester tearfully recalled traveling to Jefferson City with Ball for Student Advocacy Day. In their free time, they sat in a car and talked for hours.
“That’s a slice of the future that (the police) took away,” Lester said.
Roffle pointed out that Phi Theta Kappa had recently been named Forest Park Club of the Year. She gave partial credit to Ball.
Roffle ended class with a prayer in Ball’s memory.
“It’s inspiring to see young people doing something positive,” said human services major Marlowe Price.