CLEVELAND — Family members and friends flooded the South Collinwood street outside the home Jordan Ball shared with his mother, demanding justice for the gunman who shot and killed the 29-year-old.
"He was an awesome man," said Angelique Ball, Jordan's mother. "My baby was an awesome man."
He was an awesome man whose life seemed to be one fight after another, said his mother.
Born with heart disease, doctors doubted Ball would live past his teens. Then, his family said, Ball suffered a stroke at 21 years old that left him partially paralyzed.
But his mother said none of it dimmed her son's spirit.
Now, she struggles to understand why someone would kill him.
"Do you feel good that you killed a handicapped man who couldn't even run from you?" said Angelique Ball. "How do you feel?"
She last saw her son alive on Feb. 26.
Jordan told his mother he was leaving to meet a friend, but he never came home. When Jordan missed his brother’s birthday, his mother filed a missing person’s report.
Police distributed Jordan Ball’s picture, but it took more than a month before anyone knew what happened.
Last Thursday, investigators found Ball’s body outside an abandoned factory. The medical examiner ruled he died from a gunshot to the head—the actions of a coward, friends said.
“You didn't have to shoot him in the back of the head,” said family friend Jonetha Ali. “Whoever you are, Hell and fire is coming for you.”
Tuesday night, a sea of friends and supporters gathered to celebrate a life that overcame so much with a balloon release.
“I kept every negative thing away from him except this person, whoever it is,” said Ball’s mother. “I’m angry. I’m hurt. I feel like somebody came into my house and took my most priceless gift and stole it from me and then treated it like garbage.”
Cleveland Police have not released details about what investigators believe happened to Jordan Ball.
His family believes somebody out there knows, and asks anyone with information to call police.
