On a late summer night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the life of 15-year-old Camron Powell, a Black / African American male, was cut short. On September 1, 2014, Powell was fatally shot in the Walker's Point neighborhood. The events leading to his death began as a string of overnight robberies he and his cousin, along with four other teenagers, were committing.
The group of teens, ranging in age from 14 to 16, were in two separate cars and had been involved in approximately a dozen robberies.
Around 5:30 a.m., they targeted a group of four people in the parking lot of Steny's Tavern and Grill on West National Avenue. An exchange of gunfire occurred between one of the teens and one of the intended robbery victims. Following the initial confrontation, the teens fled in one car, leaving the other behind.
A few minutes later, Camron Powell returned to the abandoned car. He was leaning into the vehicle to retrieve a black bag containing stolen phones and clothing. The man who had earlier exchanged gunfire with the teens saw Powell and, fearing he was reaching for a weapon, fired a single shot that killed him. It was later determined that Powell was unarmed at the time.
Investigators ultimately ruled that the man who shot Camron Powell acted in self-defense, and he did not face any criminal charges for the shooting. However, four of the teenagers involved in the crime spree with Powell, including his cousin Montrell Powell, were charged as adults for their roles in the robberies. Montrell Powell was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Another 14-year-old involved was sentenced to three years in prison, while the cases for the other two teens charged as adults were pending at the time of reporting. A fifth teen's case was handled in juvenile court, resulting in a five-year commitment to a serious juvenile offender program. During the investigation, a cellphone video surfaced showing Camron and Montrell Powell mentioning a street gang.
