LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Several Los Angeles-area parents took part in an informal protest Monday aimed at stopping a Palos Verdes High School student charged with murder from continuing to attend classes.
Cameron Terrell was identified in a music video by other students. (Credit: InsomniaMusicGroup)
Cameron Terrell, 18, was arrested with two juveniles in an alleged daytime gang shooting on Oct. 1st in South Los Angeles that left 21-year-old Justin Holmes dead.
Holmes was walking with two friends when they were confronted by two armed suspects who asked where they were from. One of the armed suspects fired multiple shots, killing Holmes, according to Los Angeles police.
The suspects then fled in a vehicle driven by Terrell, police say.
Although investigators do not believe Terrell fired the fatal shot, he has been charged with murder for his role in the crime, the Daily Breeze reported.
Gang allegations were filed against all three defendants; the two juveniles have not been identified but their cases are in the process of being transferred to adult court, according to a Los Angeles Police Department news release.
Terrell was charged Oct. 16; the two juveniles were charged Oct. 13, according to LAPD. Inmate records indicate Terrell was arrested late Oct. 12 and released early Oct. 19.
Neither Holmes nor his friends were involved with gangs, police say.
The crime – which occurred shortly before noon on a Saturday – has drawn particular interest because Terrell is a white teen from a highly affluent suburban area who is suspected in what is believed to be a gang crime involving black teens.
Two Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District officials confirmed to KTLA that Terrell attended the high school, and was in class as recently as last week.
Terrell did not show up for school Monday, but several parents who want him to stop attending classes on campus did.
Former Manhattan Beach police Chief Rod Uyeda, who has a child attending the school, said he does not feel an adult charged with murder should be allowed in the school’s population of 3,000 students.
“I do believe, and I’d like to talk to the principal, that the education code does support his suspension so that he can focus on his studies at home,” Uyeda said.
Uyeda is also concerned about possible gang retaliation from the shooting putting current students in danger.
"They shoot up funerals. They shoot up schools. They shoot up people’s homes. They really don’t care who they hit,” Uyeda said.
Other parents said school officials have told them the district’s hands are tied on the matter.
The principal and superintendent have not yet replied to a request for comment from KTLA.
Terrell lives with his family in a 3,871-square-foot home with an assessed value of $1.8 million, and was photographed at Dodger Stadium attending a World Series game with his parents just days after posting bail, the Daily Breeze reported.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 29.
