BREAKING: Grand jury clears Terrebonne deputy in 2014 shooting death of teen

Seth Dupre
March 26, 2015
Nothin’ but Nate: Houma native looking for enhanced success at UNO
April 1, 2015
Seth Dupre
March 26, 2015
Nothin’ but Nate: Houma native looking for enhanced success at UNO
April 1, 2015

A Terrebonne Parish grand jury has cleared a deputy who shot and killed a 14-year-old Ellender Memorial High student.


Cameron Tillman died Sept. 23 at an abandoned house that he, his older brother and their friends used as a hangout when the deputy answered a telephoned complaint of young men with guns. Tillman had a realistic-looking pellet gun in his hand, according to law enforcement accounts, when he opened the door in response to a knock from Deputy Preston Norman, who fired four shots.

Norman, a 7-year-veteran of the Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office, had knocked on a side door within a carport, according to accounts from law enforcement. Those same accounts say that he announced himself as a police officer.

The grand jury heard from nearly 40 witnesses over a two-day period; A Louisiana State Police investigation of the shooting ended last month and the report was given over to District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. The report concluded that Preston’s claim of being fearful for his life was substantiated by the evidence.


Wyteika Tillman, the boy’s mother, was made aware of the report’s findings but refused to accept them.

She and other family members say the deputy fired too many times, and have questioned his version of the events.