Harrison man, 21, gets life in prison for fatal shooting
A Harrison man received a life prison sentence Thursday for a fatal shooting in the summer of 2020 at a Hamilton residence.
Cameron Wilson, 21, was found guilty of murder Nov. 5 in Butler County Common Pleas Court following a weeklong jury trial for the death of Darrian Shamel on June 2, 2020.
Judge Jennifer McElfresh sentenced Wilson to a mandatory sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after 18 years. The murder conviction carries a sentence of 15 years to life, and there was an additional three years added for the use of a gun in the crime.
Wilson made no statement in court before sentencing, but his attorney Mary Martin said “he still maintains his innocence.”
A witness testified he and Wilson were among three men who drove from Hamilton County to Shamel’s residence on Charlton Avenue to buy marijuana, acid and ecstasy. But when Schamel opened the door, Wilson shot him, the witness said.
Officers were called to the 700 block of Charlton Avenue about 12:15 a.m. on June 2, 2020, and found Shamel had been shot. Shamel, 22, was transported to Fort Hamilton Hospital, where he died. Shamel was shot twice in the head and neck, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office.
The defense said Wilson was not the shooter and was not in Hamilton at the time of the slaying. Martin filed a notice of alibi on Wilson’s
behalf stating he was in Hamilton County at the time police say Shamel was shot and killed.
Wilson testified in his own defense, stating his alibi that he was at his home in Harrison with his brother, then a friend’s residence in Cincinnati, then back at his home with his brother after a stop on Robben Lane in Cincinnati.
But prosecutors presented two witnesses and a cell phone expert that dispelled Wilson’s testimony.
A 22-year-old Cincinnati man testified that Wilson picked him up, along with another man, near his Delhi residence, and after a stop in Hamilton County, they drove to Hamilton. He said he had been to Shamel’s apartment off Gordon Smith Boulevard several times to purchase marijuana.
Wilson parked his white Kia in the lot, then he and the other man went to the apartment building, according to the testimony. Shamel came to the door and they were shaking hands, the witness said. Wilson was in the doorway behind him.
“And Cameron (Wilson) shot him … twice,” the witness said He testified he didn’t know that Wilson had a gun.
Wilson pulled him out of the doorway and told him to run, he testified.
During cross examination, the man admitted he didn’t call police about the homicide and lied to the Hamilton detectives twice before telling them what happened.