Shooter sentenced to 40 years for killing teen in 2021 Hurricane Harbor melee
A man who opened fire as Hurricane Harbor was closing four years ago has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally shooting a teenager, prosecutors said Friday.
Cameron Stephens, now 22, was found guilty of the June 23, 2021, murder of 16-year-old Dai'Trell Teal before receiving his sentence.
Authorities say Stephens approached a group leaving Hurricane Harbor and asked about a gang member. When they said they didn't know him, a fight broke out. Stephens retrieved his gun and opened fire.
As people fled, Teal, a student at Arlington Martin High School, was struck in the back and collapsed in the waterpark's parking lot.
At the time, then-Deputy Chief Chris Cook – now chief of the White Settlement Police Department – said an off-duty officer near the park's exit heard honking from the parking lot and saw six to eight people engaged in a fistfight. As the officer approached to break it up, Cook said he heard what sounded like a gunshot before realizing Teal had been hit near the entrance.
Teal was rushed to a local hospital but later died from his injuries.
Members of the Fugitive Unit found Stephens at a convenience store in North Dallas near the Dallas North Tollway. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Arlington Jail.