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Slain Hyde Park High Student 'Wanted To Be The Next Derrick Rose': Family

By Mauricio Peña | October 2, 2014 5:29am | Updated on October 2, 2014 7:34am
 Family members and friends sign a poster board around a tree where Camerion Blair was shot while returning a video game to a friend Tuesday night.
Family members and friends sign a poster board around a tree where Camerion Blair was shot while returning a video game to a friend Tuesday night.
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DNAinfo/Mauricio Pena

SOUTH SHORE — Camerion Blair was only about 5 feet tall, but his family said that didn't deter his love of basketball.

"He wanted to be the next Derrick Rose," said Chanel Williams, Camerion's cousin. "He was always playing and had posters of him everywhere. He loved the game."

But the South Shore teen's dream was cut short when he was shot and killed at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday

Camerion was standing in the block 7300 Block of South Shore Drive when he was approached by two people who opened fire toward him, said Bari Lemmon, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.

Camerion was struck in his back and buttocks and taken in critical condition to South Shore Hospital, where he died at 6:25 p.m., Lemmon said.

 Family members and friends gathered on Wednesday where Camerion Blair was shot while returning a video game to a friend Tuesday night.
Camerion Blair_SS
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Police have made no arrests in the case and detectives are investigating the shooting.

Camerion's family blamed his death on the violence in Chicago.

"Camerion was trying to get out of here. He was just trying his best," said aunt Lolita "Titi" Blair. "There's so much violence in Chicago, too much. No one had a reason to do this to him."

According to his family, the 16-year-old senior at Hyde Park High School was a year ahead of where he was supposed to be in school.

"He was so smart, so smart. Not just [street] smart, academically intelligent," Williams said.

His aunt said Camerion came to the house and played with his two infant nieces for 10 minutes Tuesday.

"He said, 'Titi, I'll be right back, I'm going to return my friend's video game. Fifteen minutes later, we had a knock on the door to let us know Camerion had been shot," Blair said.

"He was a good kid. Everyone loved him," Blair added. "He would give the shirt off his back for anyone."

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