In August 1930, when Cameron was 16 years old, he had gone out with two older teenage African-American friends, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. They attempted to rob a young white man, Claude Deeter, and killed him. His girlfriend Mary Ball was with him, and said she had been raped. Cameron said he ran away before the man was killed. The three youths were caught quickly, arrested, and charged the same night with robbery, murder and rape. (The rape charge was later dropped, as Ball retracted it.)