Though they may never know how many, good people touch a lot of lives. Nearly a hundred of those touched by Dulane “Lane” Cameron Jr.—friends, former classmates, neighbors and relatives—paid their respects to him and how he touched their lives during two viewings, Aug. 24, at the Richard D. Cole Funeral Home in Sewickley.
Pittsburgh police say Cameron, 24, was assaulted and fatally stabbed in the neck by Joden Rocco, Aug. 19, after Cameron and best friend, Trei Hendon, left the Tequila Cowboy bar on the North Shore. Hendon, still visibly shaken, tried to cover the fatal wound with his shirt when he saw his friend fall to the ground, but it was too late. They’d been friends since they were small children, and had both gone to Quaker Valley High School in Leetsdale for a time. Hendon had recently moved next door to Cameron in Monaca.
“He was the one who got me the place. I told him I was looking, and he said the house next door was vacant,” said Hendon. “He was a great guy, always wanted to go out, meet new people, see new things. I just can’t get it out of my head.”
Dan Barr, a cook now living in Upper St. Clair, grew up two blocks from Cameron in Leetsdale and was a few classes ahead of him at Quaker Valley. He said he first got to know Cameron because his father and grandfather were both firefighters, and Cameron’s uncle, Amos, is the Emergency Management Coordinator for Leetsdale.
Barr said though he didn’t play organized football or basketball at school, he would play pick-up games, and enjoyed sports and just hanging out.
“It’s funny because me and my buddies taught him to play basketball—he was probably only 13 at the time,” said Barr. “This is just so unreal. I’d just reconnected with him last week, ran into him down in Ambridge. He was such a nice guy, quiet, laid back—to see this happen to someone like him, it’s unreal.”
Owen Brown, another neighborhood friend and former classmate said he, too, was stunned to hear Cameron had been murdered.
“I still can’t believe it. I got a call and turned on the news. He was such a great guy. I’ve known him since we were 5—and I just saw him that afternoon. He was building a wall over at his father’s house,” he said. “He always wanted to go places, do new things, meet people—a good guy, a real good guy.”
Isaiah Hendon, nearly as upset as his brother, Trei, knelt by the casket, whispering to his friend before getting up, hugging Cameron’s father, mother and some of the friends he hadn’t seen in some time.
“I love you all, but I have to get out of here,” he said.
Cameron’s younger sister, Sheyenne, said her brother is in a better place.
“He’s better now because he’s in heaven,” she said. “I know he is because when he died he was looking up.”
Dulane Cameron Sr. was amazingly at peace with his son’s death. There were no tears, nor any anger toward Rocco, even though he had previously posted hateful anti-Black messages on social media. He credits his faith for that.
“That young man had a family, too. Imagine what they must be going through,” Dulane Cameron Sr. said. “My son was still working to find his way in this material world, but he was very spiritual and he’s home with the Lord now. He was a beautiful son, and I am blessed to have known him for 24 years.”
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