Bio

Vernice Ballenger was born on February 6, 1937. She lived in Leake County, Mississippi.

She was married to a man named Mac Ballenger. They were described as estranged later in life. They had two daughters who at times stayed in their home.

Ballenger had a light-colored custom van. Records and testimony in her case link her to Carthage and to Greenville, Mississippi, where her husband lived.

Murder Story

Vernice Ballenger asked her estranged husband, Mac Ballenger, to arrange a robbery of her elderly aunt, Myrtle Ellis. Mac recruited James Head, who brought in Ronald Ritter to help.

On July 10, 1983, Ballenger, Mac, Head and Ritter met at Ballenger's house in Leake County, Mississippi. They made several trips to look at Ellis's house and to attempt the robbery.

Before one trip, Ballenger gave Head and Ritter a .22 caliber rifle and a pistol. Head and Ritter went inside Ellis's house while Mac stood on the porch.

Ritter asked Ellis where her money was and then hit her. Head began hitting her and later hit her with the pistol. Head and Ritter searched the house and left when they did not find any money.

After they returned to Ballenger's house, Ballenger expressed concern that Ellis could identify her van. Ballenger suggested burning Ellis's house with her in it. Ballenger, Head and Ritter went back to Ellis's house and arranged for Head to start a fire. Ritter later threw a match on clothes in the house.

Ellis was found unconscious beside a shed and taken to the hospital. She never fully recovered and died on July 20, 1983. The autopsy found fractures of the upper four ribs on both sides, a fractured breastbone, a torn mammary artery, and a large amount of blood in the right chest cavity. The autopsy report stated death resulted from hemorrhage and displacement of internal organs consistent with being struck or kicked in the chest. There was no evidence that fire caused her injuries.

Investigators looked for a light-colored custom van. A van fitting that description was located and identified as Ballenger's. Ballenger was indicted by a Leake County grand jury on September 2, 1992, for the capital murder of Myrtle Ellis while engaged in robbery.

A jury found Ballenger guilty, and on January 13, 1993, she was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Ballenger appealed and raised many issues. In 1995 the conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. Later, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted post-conviction relief, vacated the conviction and sentence, and remanded the case for a new trial based on issues about jury instructions. Records also state Ballenger died in prison on April 1, 2002.