Dustin Camp, the former Amarillo high school football player who killed 19-year-old punk rocker Brian Deneke by driving into him in a parking lot in 1997, was paroled from Texas state prison on July 31, 2006, and has not appeared in public records or news reports since. If you’re asking where Dustin Camp is now, the honest answer is that no one who has written about the case publicly seems to know. He served less than half of an eight-year sentence and then dropped out of public view.1NewsChannel 10. Camp Paroled
What He Was Convicted Of
On the night of December 12, 1997, a brawl broke out between local high school athletes and members of Amarillo’s punk scene in the parking lot of the Western Plaza Shopping Center. Camp, then 17 and a football player at Tascosa High School, got into his 1983 Cadillac, drove away, turned around, and drove directly into Deneke. Deneke suffered a fractured skull and a crushed chest and died at the scene.2Dallas Observer. Slippery Tale
A passenger in the car, Nancy Elise Thompson, testified that Camp aimed the Cadillac at Deneke and shouted “I’m a ninja in my Caddy” before impact and “I bet he liked that” afterward. She said he never braked.2Dallas Observer. Slippery Tale
Trial and the Probation Sentence
Camp was charged with first-degree murder and tried in September 1999 before a Potter County jury. His attorney, Warren L. Clark, argued that Camp had used the car to defend a friend who was fighting with Deneke, and cast the punks as “armed goons” while playing up Camp’s clean-cut athlete image.3Houston Press. Fire and Ice Under cross-examination during sentencing, Camp admitted that an earlier account he had given police — that he had been driving on ice and that Deneke slipped under the car — was likely false.2Dallas Observer. Slippery Tale
The jury acquitted him of murder and convicted him of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to ten years of probation and a $10,000 fine, with no prison time. The fine was later dropped.4New York Times. After a Murder Trial, Amarillo Asks Is This a Tolerant Place5People. How the Killing of a Punk Rocker by a Clean-Cut Jock Tore a Texas City Apart
Probation Revoked, Then Prison
Camp’s probation held for less than two years. In September 2001, State District Judge Abe Lopez revoked it after finding that Camp had consumed alcohol, been present where crimes were occurring, broken curfew, and fled from police. Lopez sentenced him to eight years in prison, drawn from the original suspended sentence.6Plainview Herald. Early Release Denied for Man Convicted in Manslaughter
Parole in 2006
Camp served roughly five years before being granted parole. 47th District Attorney Randall Sims confirmed a scheduled release date of July 31, 2006, and Camp was released that day.7NewsChannel 10. Teen Killer Camp Receives Parole1NewsChannel 10. Camp Paroled The conditions of his parole and where he intended to live were not made public.
Brian Deneke’s father, Mike Deneke, said at the time that he was “not real surprised” because Camp had come up for review repeatedly over the prior three or four years. He called the original sentence “not enough punishment for taking away his son,” and added: “Brian is gone and nothing can bring him back, nothing can undo what happened. It doesn’t do any good to dwell on anger and hatred for him, and whether he’s in prison or not, it’s not going to change our lives.”7NewsChannel 10. Teen Killer Camp Receives Parole
Life After Prison
Since his 2006 release, Camp has essentially vanished from public reporting. No further criminal activity, public statements, or notable events involving him appear in the news coverage of the case, even as the killing itself has continued to draw attention through the 2017 film Bomb City and ongoing efforts to memorialize Deneke in Amarillo. Where Camp lives, whether he still goes by the same name, and what he does now are not part of the public record.