Family, friends recall teenage homicide victim in Camden

CAMDEN Troy Anderson's family wrapped a white sheet around tree bark and wrote notes in black marker to his killer.

"You are cowards," one person wrote at the top. "He was only 15 yrs old."

"You took our shining star Troy," one person wrote in the middle.

The "15" held special significance: Anderson is the youngest of Camden's 14 homicide victims so far this year. Last year, the youngest person killed was 16.

Anderson was shot several times around 2 p.m. Thursday near Yorkship and Congress Roads in the Fairview neighborhood, one of the city's safer areas. He was later pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital.

A motive remained unclear as police searched for a suspect Friday.

In the park next to the intersection where he died, Anderson's family and friends embraced and cried, remembering the flirtatious boy with a high-pitched squeal and a towering presence.

"I'm not angry at who did it," said his mother, Angela Medina, 32.

"It doesn't even cross my mind," she added. "Because it can never bring my son back."

Anderson always looked older than his age, she said. He surpassed his mother's height at age 10 and grew to 6-foot-2 by 15. His stature led him to spend time with older teenagers - occasionally the wrong ones, Medina said.

But at home, she said, Anderson was playful, often wrestling with his 13-year-old sister, Angelise. Despite being a foot shorter, she would win the battle by biting Anderson's arm, causing him to squeal.

"Screaming like a little girl at the top of his lungs," his mother recalled.

Anderson also cracked jokes around them, his friends said, one time repeatedly ripping his shirt off in the park on a 20-degree day to make them laugh.

"He was a good kid," said Isaiah Hill, 15, of Camden, tears streaming down his face. "He didn't mess with anybody."

Many friends and family wrote messages Friday on the sheet draped on the tree.

"The most wonderful grandson I ever could have asked for," one said.

"Rip Lil Bro," another read. "Nvr 4gotten."