[Baltimore Sun] Pasadena teenager killed in Federal Hill shooting remembered as nurturing, responsible
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Cameran Holt wanted the most for her many pets. When her aging hamster developed paralysis, she brainstormed a way to help it move — with a pair of sticks she hoped to create.
The Pasadena teen was a big sister who served as a second mom to her siblings and sought a career helping children with developmental disabilities.
But that all ended on Oct. 27 when a single, errant bullet struck her brain stem and surged through two vertebrae in her neck, paralyzing her.
Holt was “up for anything adventurous,” her mother, Roxanne Spath, said. But looking over her daughter’s hospital bed, Spath “knew that’s not the way she wanted to live.”
“It was hard for me to think about the things she would do for animals, to give them a chance at life,” Spath said. “Looking at my child with her quality of life, that was a struggle for me.”
One of the last things Holt wanted, her mother said, was for her dog Rein not to feel abandoned.
With the help of a relative’s service dog vest, the 19-year-old’s family took Rein from their home and snuck her into Shock Trauma in Baltimore, where Holt had been since getting caught in a crossfire in the city’s Federal Hill neighborhood.
After 11 days in the hospital, Holt died.
The shooting that killed her came at the end of what her family described as “a good day all the way around:” first with a gender reveal party for Holt’s sister Kendal — where blue smoke poured out of a pumpkin carved in question marks — and then a playoff football victory for her younger brother Tyler.
That night, Holt, her oldest sister Destiny and a close family friend went to Federal Hill to celebrate the upcoming Halloween holiday.
Parking Holt’s car along West Hamburg Street, the three women bounced between restaurants until the early morning hours, when, after returning to the car, they were caught in the middle of what Spath described as a gunfight between two groups of people.
“She wasn’t even involved,” Holt’s aunt Amanda Spath said. “It had nothing to do with her and yet, she’s the one that has really paid the ultimate price.”
Baltimore Police said in a news release that detectives had begun investigating the shooting, which also injured a 28-year-old man, and asked anyone with information to call 410-396-2100.
Holt’s mother said Thursday she didn’t know of any leads in the case and is “frustrated” by the lack of empathy she’s received from Baltimore officials.
“If something happened in Pasadena, right, the people of Pasadena are going to extend and put their arms out,” Roxanne Spath said. “That didn’t happen at all.”
Baltimore Police said Friday that its homicide detectives have been in contact with Holt’s family and that their investigation remains open and active.
The shooting confirmed the fears Holt’s mother already had surrounding the city. Whenever she expressed hesitation or caution, however, their daughter said she loved Federal Hill and always felt safe there.
Roxanne Spath felt that her daughter’s trust in Baltimore was another sign of her beauty and kindness.
“I think Cameran, in her daily life, thought that others had that same mindset as her,” she said.
Holt’s family described her in interviews as someone who would “give anybody the shirt off of her back:” a nurturing, family-minded young woman who had a strong sense of self and a tinge of “sass” about her.
Holt grew up in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, having attended Bodkin Elementary, Chesapeake Bay Middle and Chesapeake High, and always had relatives nearby. Roxanne Spath said Thursday the bulk of her family lived within a 10-mile radius of their Pasadena home, many much closer.
The same care Holt exhibited to animals — including a baby squirrel she saved from a stray animal’s mouth and a feral cat she funded a surgery for — extended to her family.
In times of turmoil, such as her parents’ divorce, Holt became a “second mom,” her mother said, making handyman repairs, taking her siblings to and from school and enforcing house rules.
“Cameran, just being who she was, wanted to step up and help,” Roxanne Spath said. “She just did it, without being asked.”
When Amanda Spath was looking for someone to babysit the two youngest of her three children, she said Holt was a natural choice.
“She was the responsible one,” Amanda Spath said. “Cameran … just had that nurturing characteristic. She loved my kids very much.”
Holt’s mother said her teenager was also mature for her age. At the time of her death, she was saving money to buy a new car and despite her passion for all of her animals, still made time for her family and friends.
One exception was made earlier this year when Holt decided to skip her family’s annual trip to the Outer Banks — a tradition that began when her mother was a kid.
Roxanne Spath didn’t think it was a decision made lightly, however, as Holt was training to advance her first career job. After a series of restaurant roles, Holt felt unsatisfied, her mother said, and longed for a job that could help others.
She soon became involved with an early learning center in Millersville for children with developmental disabilities, her mother said. Shortly before she died, Holt had earned a certification verifying her ability to work in the behavior analysis field.
“She always had other people in all of her intentions,” Amanda Spath said.
A candlelight vigil in Holt’s honor will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Panthers Athletic Club in Pasadena. A funeral for immediate family and close friends will take place Nov. 23.
Holt is survived by her mother, Roxanne Spath; father, Jonathan Holt; sisters, Destiny Spath, Kendal Holt, Aubrey Holt; brother, Tyler Holt; grandparents, Frank and Terry Spath; Karen and Jack Holt; aunts and uncles, Amanda and Casey Spath, Carly and Bryan Spath, Timothy Holt; cousins, Ava, Aria, Hunter and Layla; and nephew, Aamari Holt.
Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@baltsun.com, 410-725-6214 and x.com/@lparkernews.
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