Hillsborough double-murder suspect makes 1st appearance in court
A 19-year-old charged with two counts of murder appeared briefly in an Orange County courtroom Thursday afternoon.
“I love y’all,” Kenyon Raishaun Cameron said as he turned with a raised hand toward family and friends in the front rows of the courtroom before deputies escorted him back to the Orange County jail.
“We love you,” the group responded, as one woman warned another to stay quiet.
Cameron, of Hillsborough, was arrested during a traffic stop Wednesday and charged with fatally shooting two people Dec. 29 off South Churton Street. He is being held without bail in the jail and has another hearing Feb. 6 to determine if law enforcement has enough evidence to support the charges.
Cameron is accused of shooting 16-year-old Zikera Wardlow, who lived in Hillsborough, and De’Anthony Letrelle Morgan, 20, from La Grange, North Carolina.
Police have not said whether Cameron knew the victims or provided a motive for the murders.
He also has a case pending for a September charge of injury to personal property. Cameron is accused of causing damage to the victim’s Mustang GT in that case, court records show.
Police found Wardlow and Morgan in a Dodge Charger on Cardinal Drive near Interstate 85 at 6:40 a.m. Dec. 30 while responding to the call about a gunshot injury.
In a 911 call released to The News & Observer, a caller said a woman’s body was on the ground outside the car on the morning of Dec. 30, and the car was still running. The caller said the car had been there since 8 p.m. the night before when they heard gunshots.
They didn’t call the police, the caller said, because they saw the Charger with its rear lights on and thought the police were already there.
Victims remembered, fundraisers started
Morgan’s father, Rico McDowell, said his son was a loving uncle to his nephews and a niece, who was born less than two weeks before his death. He worked at Sanderson Farms and Amazon to save money for college, said his mother, Pamela Stevenson, and he was enrolled in Lenoir Community College to study engineering.
Wardlow was a student at Discovery Charter School in Durham, where she played on the girls basketball team, according to her family. She also played basketball while attending Cedar Ridge High School during the 2023-24 school year.
A GoFundMe organized by Discovery Charter says Wardlow left home Sunday night to get food “but never returned.”
A GoFundMe campaign also has been started to help pay for Morgan’s funeral expenses.
The investigation is continuing.
Anyone with any information can contact Investigator Andrew Jones at 919-296-9562 or via email. Anonymous tips can be reported by calling 919-296-9555; using the See it, Say it, Send it website, iOS app or Android app.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 3:20 PM.
