Schools
Student Murder Suspect At Palos Verdes High Triggers Uproar
Parents at Palos Verdes High protested after the son of a wealthy local family was allowed to return to school while facing murder charges.
PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CA — An 18-year-old man from an affluent Rancho Palos Verdes family and charged with murder in connection with a South Los Angeles gang killing will not return to classes at his public high school, district officials announced Monday as parents protested and called for his suspension.
Cameron Terrell and two male juveniles were arrested Oct. 12 in connection with the gang-related shooting on Oct. 1 of 21-year-old Justin Holmes, who was gunned down on 78th Street near Western Avenue, police said. Investigators allege Terrell was the driver of a getaway vehicle.
All three suspects are now facing murder and other charges.
Find out what's happening in Palos Verdesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Terrell, however, was released from custody Oct. 19 after posting bond. Jail records show he is due to appear in court Nov. 29 in downtown Los Angeles.
After being freed from custody, Terrell returned to class at Palos Verdes High School, prompting outrage from some parents who called him a danger to other students. About a half-dozen parents gathered at the school Monday demanding that Terrell be suspended from classes.
Find out what's happening in Palos Verdesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"I'm not thoroughly convinced that they have this under control," parent Valerie Anderson told ABC7. "... We've got attorneys that work for the school and they need to get this kid out."
Anderson also claimed the school district never notified parents that Terrell was back in classes.
"Nobody from the school district has communicated to me what they are doing for the safety of our students that are here," she said.
Around midday Monday, school officials told reporters that Terrell's parents -- identified by the Daily Breeze as media consulting firm president Donald Wayne Terrell and interior designer Debra Terrell -- had agreed to pull their son out of classes and have him educated elsewhere.
Palos Verdes Unified School District Superintendent Don Austin told the Daily Breeze last week that students generally have a right to a public education, and for a student to be suspended, "there has to be a direct nexus to the school itself. These allegations have no nexus to our school. The allegations and charges against a student without a nexus to school would not be grounds for exclusion."
City News Service
