Crystal Rogers' mother opens up about heartbreak, justice and life after the guilty verdicts

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Sherry Ballard has lived a life of heartbreak the past 10 years. Her world flipped upside down when she lost a daughter and husband to murder and a grandson to the legal system.

Despite the overwhelming loss, she pushes through the pain every day. But it's not easy.

"I miss Crystal every day," Ballard said in a recent interview, holding back tears.

Not wanting to jeopardize the case, this was Ballard's her first interview with WDRB News in about two years. Earlier this year, three men were convicted in Crystal Rogers' murder.

The murder fueled the flame of a mother not willing to give up. It took eight years for Brooks Houck, Steve Lawson and Joseph Lawson to be arrested in the case. In total, she waited 10 years to get to trial to finally hear these words from Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III, reading the jury's verdict: "We the jury find the defendant guilty."

"Oh gosh, I can't even explain how that felt to hear them say 'Guilty,'" Ballard said.

Sherry Ballard lost a daughter and husband to murder and a grandson to the legal system in the last 10 years. *(WDRB Photo)*

But Ballard said the joy of that moment was fleeting.

"After they said guilty, my son looked at me, and he's like 'Mom, dad should be here,'" she said. "And that was a very hard moment."

Ballard and her family have faced loss many can't imagine. Her husband, Tommy Ballard, was killed nearly a year and half after Rogers disappeared.

"He spent his whole life, after Crystal went missing, trying to get answers and searching for our daughter," she said.

Houck has been convicted of murdering Rogers. His brother, Nick Houck, has been tied to Tommy Ballard's unsolved murder. Shot and killed on family property, prosecutors believe Nick Houck sold the gun used to kill Tommy Ballard to an undercover FBI agent.

Nick Houck was the only member of his brother's family member not at the trial.

"I think Nick Houck is 100% guilty, and he's scared to be there," Ballard said.

Even the son Rogers shared with Brooks Houck was at the first day of the murder trial. In 2021, a judge denied Rogers the right to see her grandson.

"In the back of my mind I was thinking 'Did they bring him just to get a reaction out of me, to maybe have a mistrial?'" Ballard said. "Because you wouldn't believe the things that could cause a mistrial that I had no clue. So I couldn't talk to Eli. I couldn't say anything. And then it made me aggravated and mad and annoyed, because I don't think, as a guardian, they should have brought him there and put him in that position."

During difficult moments in trial, hearing certain evidence and witness testimony, Ballard said the stress to hold everything in without crying — for that fear of a mistrial — was added pressure.

"You're sitting there, Fallon, and you're the victim and you feel like you've done something wrong because you can't react," Ballard said. "They told us there can't be no outbursts, can't be anything like that, keep the sobbing and all that to a minimum. And how do you control your feelings like that?"

Ballard said her strength came from God. In the final days of the trial, she held a cross and prayed the whole time. Despite her daughter and husband being murdered, she never closed the door on that relationship.

"I thank Him every day for giving me the justice that my family deserves and for not letting me down," she said.

Asked what she'd say to her daughter today if she had the chance, Ballard thought of her kids.

"... that we miss her dearly and she would be so proud of her kids," she said. "So proud. She has grandkids. You know, she would have been a great grandmother. So she would have loved those grandbabies with all her heart."

Despite guilty verdicts for Brooks Houck and Steve and Joseph Lawson, Ballard's fight still continues. She said she'll stay on top of Brooks Houck's appeals, any parole hearings and his jail phone calls.

"I listen to every single one of them," she said. "I think it's pathetic."

"From what he took from me and what he did to my daughter, he deserves everything that he gets," Ballard said. "If you really want forgiveness, admit to what you've done. And be sorry for it. And I don't think Brooks Houck will ever be sorry for anything that he does."

Ballard doesn't believe she will ever get any answers from him as to where Rogers' body could be. As for Eli, he's lost both parents. His mom was murdered when he was a toddler, and his dad was sentenced to life in prison for the crime. Brooks Houck's sister, Rhonda McIlvoy, was granted permanent custody of the now 12-year-old boy.

"It's very hard for me," Rogers said. "But that's all my grandson knows — that family. So people don't understand? I can't rip him out of his environment. As much as I hate him being there, it's not fair to him. And he loves them people. I'm hoping, one day, they'll all be in jail."

Nick Houck and Rosemary Houck, Brook's brother and mother, were named unindicted co-conspirators throughout the murder trial. Ballard now prays for continued justice for her family, especially her husband. But if and when that day comes, there will be no true peace or rest.

"I've lost so much that I could never get back," she said. "And I don't know how to get past that. You know, my daughter told me once ... 'I just want my mom back.' And I'm like 'I do too.'"

Ballard loved Rogers so deeply she lost part of herself.

"How do I get that person back? That person doesn't exist anymore," she said. "So I'm still me. But I'm a broken me."

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