Former Palos Verdes Student Acquitted In Gang Murder Rearrested
PALOS VERDES ESTATES (CBSLA) — A former South Bay high school student who was acquitted last year of murder in the 2017 gang-related shooting death of a man in South Los Angeles, was rearrested Tuesday evening on unrelated charges.
Cameron Terrell, 19, of Palos Verdes Estates, was booked on suspicion of committing a carjacking when he was a juvenile. An attorney for Terrell told CBS2 that Terrell is suspected in an attempted carjacking which occurred during the spring of 2018.
"While investigating the murder, evidence was discovered by investigators for additional felony crimes, and due to the dates of those incidents, they could not be charged concurrently with Mr. Terrell's adult case, as Mr. Terrell was a juvenile at the time of those incidents," according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement.
Police were tight-lipped on the new allegations. Terrell was taken into custody at 6 p.m. Tuesday and was being held without bail until his next court appearance.
The L.A. County District Attorney's Office is look to file felony charges against Terrell on the new allegations in juvenile court, LAPD added.
In July of last year, Terrell was acquitted of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the Oct. 1, 2017, killing of 21-year-old Justin Holmes, who was shot to death on 78th Street, near Western Avenue. Prosecutors contended that Terrell drove the getaway car for two South L.A. juveniles who are suspected of shooting Holmes.
During his trial, Terrell claimed he did not know the teens he was driving had planned on shooting anyone. Those teens remain in custody on murder charges.
The case made national news because Terrell, who attended Palos Verdes High School, is white and from a prominent family. His father is the president of a media consulting firm and his mother is an interior designer. Prosecutors allege Terrell spent time with a South L.A. street gang. He appeared in several rap videos and reportedly went by the moniker "White Boy."
Immediately following his acquittal, Terrell told CBS2 that he had a newfound respect for the law due to having dealt with the criminal justice system. He also said that he was considering a career in law.
He told reporters that Holmes' murder was something that weighed on him "every single day of my life." He said that he "talks to God every day…and God knows what was in my head that day."
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
