
Date: July 1, 2025
RE: State v. Ryan Kenneth Ball
On Tuesday, July 1, 2025, Ryan Kenneth Ball, 38, of Bel Air, pled guilty to one (1) count of Aggravated Animal Cruelty and one (1) count of Obtain Prescription by Fraud. The Honorable Judge Paul W. Ishak sentenced Ball to five (5) years, all suspended but one (1) year at the Harford County Detention Center and ordered that the Defendant is prohibited from possessing any animals while on probation.
Evidence presented in support of the plea proved that on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Harford County Deputies responded to a report of Controlled Dangerous Substances found in a trash can. Upon arrival, Deputies found syringes and two prescription vials. One vial’s label was stripped, but ultimately determined to be rocuronium, and the other was labeled “succinylcholine.” Deputies spoke to the caller who advised that they took their trash cans in from the night before and found the vials at the bottom of their trash can. Other homeowners spoke to Deputies and further advised that they learned their neighbor’s dog, Louie, a six-year-old Plott Hound, had just passed away and that the dog’s owner was a pharmacist in the area. The dog owner was identified as Ryan Kenneth Ball.
Harford County Animal Control began an investigation into the death of the dog with the help of Harford County Sheriff’s Office detectives. Animal Control learned that Ball did not like the dog and through their investigation, learned that Ball tried to pay others to take Louie. Animal Control learned that Louie was taken to a local veterinarian for cremation. Animal Control reached out to the veterinarian and was able to stop Louie in transport to the crematorium.
Louie was then sent to the Pennsylvania State University Animal Diagnostic Laboratory for a necropsy. The Director of the Veterinary Forensics Program discovered an area of hemorrhage near the jugular grove of the animal and sent tissue samples to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for testing. The toxicological testing revealed Louie’s heart blood contained 2,400 ng/mL of rocuronium and less than 5 ng/g of succinylcholine. The Penn State University Veterinary Director determined that Louie’s cause of death was due to an overdose of rocuronium, a neuromuscular blocking agent.
It was also revealed that rocuronium and succinylcholine are two drugs generally used in Rapid Sequence Intubation in hospital and emergency medical settings. These drugs are generally used to relax skeletal muscles during surgery, so hospital personnel can operate on a patient. Typically, these drugs are used in combination with sedatives and mechanically assisted ventilation as they can decrease breathing and other vital processes to the extent that death will ensue if ventilation is not supported. The Penn State University Director further opined that the concentration of rocuronium was similar to those reported in humans under full surgical anesthesia with ventilatory support and would have resulted in near-complete neuromuscular paralysis with respiratory failure and death within several minutes of intravenous injection.
Other pharmacy experts consulted during this investigation found that if a patient, such as Louie, were administered these drugs without respiratory support or sedatives, the patient would experience “awareness with paralysis” and would be conscious as the drugs took effect.
Through continued investigation, it was learned that Ryan Kenneth Ball was a licensed pharmacist at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. Records provided by Upper Chesapeake showed that the two vials found in the trash can were prescription drugs ordered by the hospital for routine use. Upper Chesapeake places warning labels on these drugs stating: “WARNING: PARALYZING AGENT. PATIENT MUST BE VENTILATED. CAUSES RESPIRATORY ARREST.” It was ultimately determined that Ball used his access at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center to obtain these drugs and take them home.
Additionally, Ball has been referred to the Board of Pharmacy for a review of his license.
Following the conviction, State’s Attorney Alison M. Healey issued the following statement: “Medical professionals in this county are placed in a position of extreme trust. Utilizing your license and position in a local hospital to illegally obtain medications and improperly administer them to kill your family dog is a gross violation of the trust placed in this Defendant in his position as a medical professional. Holding the Defendant accountable in this case is important in deterring him and others from future misuse of medications available in the capacity of their employment.”
State’s Attorney Healey expresses her gratitude to Assistant State’s Attorney Jeremy Brooks for his commitment to the investigation and prosecution of this case. She also commends Animal Control Manager Cajigas and Detective Schueler of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work and relentless investigatory efforts in this matter.