HAMILTON, Ohio — A Harrison man has been found guilty of murder in a Hamilton fatal shooting after a week-long trial in Butler County Common Pleas Court.
The jury deliberated about four hours Friday afternoon before returning the verdict convicting Cameron Wilson of killing Darrian Shamel on June 2, 2020.
Wilson, 21, of Harrison, was found guilty of murder with a gun specification and felonious assault. He faces life in prison with parole eligibility after 18 years. Judge Jennifer McElfresh set sentencing for Nov. 18.
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.
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. Defense attorney Mary 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.
Twenty-year-old Blake Michels testified Wilson picked up him and another man near his Delhi residence and after a stop in Hamilton County 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 Michael went to the apartment building, according to Michels. Shamel came to the door and they were shaking hands, Michels said. Wilson was in the doorway behind him.
“And Cameron (Wilson) shot him … twice,” Michels said. He testified he didn’t know prior to the shooting that Wilson had a gun.
Wilson pulled him out of the doorway and told him to run, he testified.
During cross examination, Michels admitted he didn’t call police about the homicide and lied to the Hamilton detectives twice before telling them what actually happened.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said a second witness to the shooting gave the same account of Shamel’s shooting as Michels, testifying Wilson fired the shots.
“We also had scientific evidence of cell phone locations with respect to the defendant’s cell phone usage that was contradictory to his testimony,” Gmoser said. “So if he wasn’t where he said he was and he is in the area where the murder happened at the time of the murder, he’s guilty.”
