Cameron Terrell: Trial, Acquittal, and Getaway Driver Law

The Cameron Terrell murder trial ended on July 23, 2018, with a Los Angeles jury acquitting the 19-year-old Palos Verdes Estates resident of one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the gang-related shooting death of 21-year-old Justin Holmes. Terrell, who was white and came from an affluent family, had been accused of driving the getaway car for two juvenile members of the Rollin’ 90s Neighborhood Crips. The verdict set off a national argument about race, wealth, and how the criminal justice system treats defendants who have both.

The Shooting That Led to the Charges

On the morning of Sunday, October 1, 2017, Justin Alongino Holmes was walking with two friends near the 7800 block of South Western Avenue in the Manchester Square neighborhood of South Los Angeles. Two teenagers approached and asked about gang affiliation. When Holmes replied that he did not “gangbang,” one of the teenagers opened fire, killing him. He was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after noon.¹ Holmes worked at U-Haul and had no gang ties. His two companions were not struck and fled the scene.²

Surveillance video captured the two shooters getting into a black Mercedes-Benz sedan, which then fled south into an alley off South Western Avenue.³ The car was registered to Cameron Terrell’s father. LAPD arrested Terrell and the two juvenile suspects on October 12, 2017.²

Who Cameron Terrell Was

Terrell grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, one of the wealthiest enclaves in the Los Angeles area, roughly 20 miles from the South L.A. neighborhoods where the Rollin’ 90s Neighborhood Crips operated. He was an only child and a student at Palos Verdes High School. According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, trouble at home led Terrell to begin spending time at Jesse Owens Park in South Los Angeles, where he became immersed in gang culture and even bought a book about it.⁴

Prosecutors alleged that Terrell was a full member of the Rollin’ 90s, pointing to social media posts, videos of him throwing gang signs alongside admitted members, and an alleged gang tattoo.⁵ A criminal complaint identified his moniker as “White Boy.”⁶ His defense attorney, Jovan Blacknell, acknowledged the oddity of the situation, saying that to Terrell’s new associates he was “a complete stereotype: He was a wealthy white kid who drove a Mercedes Benz.”⁴

Charges, Bail, and the Bond That Drew Criticism

On October 16, 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged Terrell with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, with gang and gun allegations.⁷ A $5 million bond was posted on his behalf, and he was released from custody within a week of his arrest. He was later photographed attending a World Series game at Dodger Stadium, a detail that drew immediate public criticism.⁸

Attorney John Raphling told BET that it was rare for a suspect in a gang-related murder to be free on bail, and that release gives a defendant significant advantages, including easier access to counsel and the ability to appear in court in personal clothing rather than jail garb.⁸ When word spread that Terrell might continue attending Palos Verdes High School, parents sent a letter to the school board calling his presence “a clear and present danger to other students.”⁹ He stopped attending classes and finished his studies off-campus.⁴

In April 2018, Superior Court Judge Mark S. Arnold denied a defense request to reduce the $5 million bail. Prosecutors alleged at the hearing that Terrell had also been involved in a May 2017 carjacking, which Blacknell disputed.¹⁰

Inside the Trial

The case was tried in Los Angeles Superior Court before Judge Arnold. Deputy District Attorneys Adan Montalban and Tricia Taylor argued that Terrell was not a bystander but a committed gang member who knowingly drove two armed juveniles into rival territory. Montalban told the jury Terrell was “fully committed to the Rollin’ 90s Neighborhood Crips” and played a video from Terrell’s phone that prosecutors said showed him celebrating after the killing.¹¹

The prosecution pointed to Terrell’s decision to park out of sight before the juveniles got out as evidence of planning. Jurors also saw a rap song Terrell allegedly recorded after his release on bail that referenced the killing, and video from a makeshift memorial for Holmes at which Terrell’s associates were recorded kicking over candles left for the victim.¹² Montalban used LAPD interview footage in which Terrell reportedly admitted that one of the juveniles had tried to fire his gun but it jammed, which prosecutors argued undermined the defense theory that Terrell expected nothing more than a fistfight.¹¹

Blacknell told jurors his client was, at most, a witness who had no idea a shooting was going to happen. Terrell believed the group was going to do graffiti, the defense said, and “did not possess any weapons, he did not shoot anybody, he was not part of any conspiracy, or any plan or plot.”¹³ He characterized Terrell’s flight from the scene as shock and survival instinct, and asked jurors why Terrell would have driven “his daddy’s car” if he had known gunfire was coming.¹² Social media posts and rap music, Blacknell said, were “extraneous issues” unrelated to the actual crime.

After roughly a week of deliberation, the jury acquitted Terrell on all counts on July 23, 2018.¹⁴ Terrell said afterward: “I want to say rest in peace, Justin Holmes. You shouldn’t have died that day. I pray for his family every night.”⁹

Why the Verdict Became a National Controversy

Critics argued the outcome illustrated how race and wealth tilt outcomes in criminal court. On social media the case was compared to the Brock Turner sexual-assault case at Stanford, with commentators saying Terrell had received a benefit of the doubt routinely denied to Black defendants.⁴ Journalist Jasmyne Cannick said the fact that Terrell could post bail on a murder charge itself reflected disparate treatment: “When white people are accused of murder they are given every benefit of the doubt and presumed innocent until a jury says otherwise.”⁸

USC law professor Jody Armour noted research showing that Black individuals are judged more harshly than white individuals for the same conduct, and that white defendants tend to be viewed through a lens of “extenuating circumstances.” Blacknell, who is Black, said that while his client was not acquitted because he was white, jurors likely gave him a “benefit of the doubt” that minority defendants do not always receive.⁴

Not everyone framed it that way. Gang consultant Alex Alonso said the acquittal reflected prosecutorial strategy more than bias, arguing that prosecutors “bungled the case by overcharging Terrell and failing to prove he was part of the murder conspiracy.”⁴

What Happened Next

The Holmes family shook their heads and left the courtroom without speaking to reporters after the verdict.⁴ They later filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Terrell and his family.⁹

Lawrence Bowie, the father of one of the two juvenile co-defendants, said Terrell went “scot-free” while his own son remained incarcerated, and suggested his son had been “taken advantage of.” As of mid-2018, both juvenile co-defendants remained in custody awaiting trial, and community activist Melvin Farmer told the Grio the two were “probably facing life sentences.”¹⁵

Terrell enrolled at the University of Houston for the fall 2018 semester.⁴⁶¹⁶¹⁷

By April 5, 2019, Blacknell announced the case had been resolved and Terrell had been released to probation. Because the matter was handled in juvenile court, the specific terms remain confidential. Terrell did not return to the University of Houston for the spring 2019 semester, though his attorney said he planned to continue his college education.¹⁷

How California Law on Getaway Drivers Changed After the Case

Terrell’s prosecution raised a broader question: when can a getaway driver be held criminally responsible for a murder committed by someone else? Under California law at the time of the 2017 shooting, a person could be convicted of murder as an aider and abettor if they knowingly assisted the crime with the intent to facilitate it. Prosecutors had to prove Terrell formed that intent before or during the commission of the crime, a high bar when the defendant did not fire the weapon.

Months after the acquittal, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1437, which took effect on January 1, 2019. The law narrowed accomplice liability for murder. Under the revised Penal Code, a person who was not the actual killer can only be convicted of felony murder if they acted with intent to kill while aiding the killer, or if they were a “major participant” in the underlying felony and acted with “reckless indifference to human life.”¹⁸ The reform effectively ended the natural and probable consequences theory as a basis for murder convictions, which had previously allowed prosecutors to convict accomplices without proof of an intent to kill.¹⁹ Had prosecutors secured a conviction against Terrell under the older framework, SB 1437 could have provided grounds to challenge it. The jury’s acquittal made the question moot for his case, but the timing marked a broader shift in how California treats accomplice liability in gang-related killings.

1
Los Angeles Times. Justin Alongino Holmes
2
LAPD. Three Arrested for Murder in South Los Angeles
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Los Angeles Times. Cameron Terrell Acquitted in Justin Holmes Murder
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Los Angeles Times. Cameron Terrell Analysis
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ABC7. Detectives Testify on Palos Verdes Teen’s Link to Gang
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KTLA. Palos Verdes Estates Teen Acquitted in Killing Rearrested on Suspicion of Other Felonies
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Daily Breeze. Murder Trial Begins for Former PV High Student Accused of Driving Getaway Car
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BET. Rich White Teen Charged With Murder Released on Bail
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Business Insider. Wealthy Teen Allegedly Involved With Gang Arrested
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ABC7. Palos Verdes Teen Murder Suspect Denied Bail Reduction
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Daily Breeze. Jurors Begin Deliberating in Murder Case Against Former Palos Verdes High Student
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CBS News. Cameron Terrell Acquitted
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Daily Breeze. Former Palos Verdes High Student Acquitted of Murder Is Arrested Again
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ABC7. Ex-Palos Verdes HS Student Acquitted in Fatal Shooting
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The Grio. White Teen Crip Acquitted Murder
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Los Angeles Times. Cameron Terrell New Charges
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ABC7. Cameron Terrell Released From Custody Again
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LegiScan. SB 1437 Bill Text
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Cap Central. Murder SB 1437