Libby man sentenced in Russian roulette death

A Libby man who pleaded no contest to his involvement in the death of another during a game of Russian roulette was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County District Court.

Keigan I. Ball, 22, made his plea to a felony count of criminal endangerment on Dec. 4. Monday, he received a 3-year deferred sentence from Judge Matt Cuffe. A charge of negligent homicide was dismissed as part of a plea deal. Ball had faced a 10-year sentence.

A no contest plea means the defendant does not assume guilt, but believes he could be found guilty. Ball, as he said to an investigator following the shooting, believed he had unloaded his gun during the incident on Memorial Day weekend.

Ball did not make a statement during the hearing.

Cuffe said it was, “a difficult case. There was poor judgement the whole way around and it rose to the level of a felony.”

Cuffe also described Ball as a low risk to reoffend and his criminal history only included minor traffic offenses.

According to court documents, 30-year-old Shane Ellison died in the tragic shooting on May 27 that occurred when he mistakenly shot himself with revolver that he thought was unloaded.

The investigation began when Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies Anthony Jenson and Ben Fisher responded to the scene at a location on Farm to Market Road. Jenson saw a Dodge Stealth that had come to a stop in a chain link fence. He saw Ellison laying just outside the driver’s side door of the vehicle.

Jenson also saw two men standing at the end of the driveway, one of whom he recognized as Ball. Jenson wrote in his report that Ball’s arms and jacket were covered with blood.

The deputy approached Ball and asked him what happened. Ball allegedly said, “It was (expletive) unloaded.” Ball then told the officer he and Ellison had been messing around. He said they would usually go into the woods, put one in the chamber and play Russian roulette. Ball allegedly said he emptied the revolver and left the loaded cartridges in his hand. He then handed the gun to Ellison who spun the cylinder, put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, according to court filings.

According to Jenson’s report, Ball said he drove to the current location where Ellison had been living in a shed on the property because he didn’t know what to do.

Deputy Fisher found four live rounds in the grass near Ball’s vehicle. Fisher’s inspection of the gun showed it held five rounds. One spent round was in the cylinder behind the firing pin.