FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The 15-year-old boy gunned down in a southeast Fort Wayne alleyway last week identified his shooter as a man who’d threatened him previously, just before he died.
Cameron B. Hallett, 22, faces a charge of Murder in the shooting of Eric R. McDonnell, Jr. on Wednesday evening.
Police and medics were called just after 7 p.m. that night to an alleyway in the 2800 block of Euclid Avenue. There, authorities found McDonnell unresponsive in an alley between Euclid and Central Drive, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
Paramedics transported him to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died soon after of a gunshot wound.
According to a probable cause affidavit released Monday, the shooting was captured on a surveillance camera in the area. It showed McDonnell walking in the alley while talking on a cellphone, then meeting a vehicle. As he walks back in the alley, McDonnell is approached by two people, the affidavit detailed.
The two then assault McDonnell, and a shot is fired from an “item in a bag” – presumably a gun – by a tall, slender person, the affidavit said. McDonnell can then be seen using the cell phone again, before another person runs up to him.
That person told police later than McDonnell told him, “Blako shot me, Blako shot me, Blako shot me,” the affidavit said. The person said “Blako” was a man named Cam who had recently threatened McDonnell for allegedly stealing from him, the affidavit said.
The person identified Hallett, whose middle name is Blake, as “Blako” in a photo array. Another witness also identified Hallett.
A third witness and friend of McDonnell told police that he heard “Blako” and “Forrest” assaulted and shot McDonnell, the affidavit said. That person also identified Hallett.
On Friday, Fort Wayne Police Gang and Narcotic units made a traffic stop at Hanna and Lewis streets and took Hallett into custody. The affidavit said he had a barrel of a handgun tucked into his underwear, and another portion of the gun was found in a brown plastic bag with a hole in it and with an odor of bleach under the driver’s seat. Police also found a large amount of cash in the vehicle.
Hallett is due in Allen Superior Court on Thursday.
