Suspect in fatal Fort Worth shooting of teen was playing with handgun, warrant says
A Fossil Ridge High School student killed in an accidental shooting in late October and the 17-year-old who confessed to pulling the trigger were riding in another man’s car smoking marijuana when the fatal mishap with a handgun occurred, according to an arrest warrant provided by police on Friday.
The warrant, issued for the 17-year-old on the charge of manslaughter, describes the carefree moments leading up to the single gunshot and the panicked minutes that followed.
Cameryn Burk, the 18-year-old victim, was riding in the front passenger seat of another man’s gold Nissan Altima in the late afternoon of Oct. 25, the warrant states. The suspect, Alexander Holloway, was sitting directly behind him in the back seat, playing with a black Glock handgun he had. They were cruising around Fort Worth without a destination in mind, after Holloway had sold marijuana to two people. Holloway and the other man acknowledged they were smoking, per the warrant.
With no bullets loaded in the gun, Holloway was repeatedly pulling the slide back and firing it so he could hear the loud sound it made, he later told detectives. He pulled the slide back once more, this time inserting a magazine, before setting it down for a bit.
He noticed about 15 minutes later the trigger was still in the forward position, meaning he had racked the gun without firing it, police said. Somewhere around the 8000 block of Beach Street, Holloway pulled the trigger and a single round fired through the front passenger seat. The bullet struck Burk in the back.
Holloway tried to stop the bleeding as the driver took them to an ER in north Fort Worth, according to the warrant. Officers who responded to the Surepoint Emergency Center around 6 p.m. stated they saw Holloway and the other man waiting in the lobby as Burk underwent surgery for a gunshot wound.
A doctor pronounced him dead at 6:24 p.m. on Oct. 25, the warrant states. Police later interviewed Holloway, who informed police of the series of events that day.
“He understands that playing with a gun can kill someone and is sorry for his actions,” Detective J. McAnally wrote in the arrest warrant.
The other man, whose age wasn’t provided, also spoke to officers, telling them he didn’t believe Holloway would intentionally hurt Burk, according to the warrant. He gave police permission to search his gold Nissan Altima parked out front, where detectives reported they saw the handgun in the back seat and a small pool of blood in the front passenger seat. A bullet hole pierced this seat.
Though police concluded the shooting appeared to be an accident, Holloway was charged with manslaughter for “recklessly causing the death” of Burk, according to the warrant. A manslaughter charge, as opposed to murder, doesn’t require the suspect to have committed the crime intentionally and knowingly.
Holloway was released on $25,000 bond, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office and court records.
Burk’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the back, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, which characterized his death as a homicide.
A celebration of life was held on Nov. 1 for the teen, who was weeks away from graduation, according to his online obituary. Burk was remembered in the obituary as a loving son and brother who spoke of wanting a career in construction and to marry his girlfriend. He had a sister and two brothers.
Friends knew Burk as Lil’ Cam due to his small stature but he didn’t mind the playful nickname, a friend told the Star-Telegram in the wake of his death in October. He always had a smile on his face, the friend said, and was passionate about school.
DeVivo Bros. Eatery, a restaurant that serves American and Italian comfort food, posted on Facebook on Oct. 27 that Burk was an employee “and part of our family.”
“He was a bright, hardworking young man,” the post reads.
