Michael Allen, 19, was arrested in Newport News, Virginia last week, and will face first-degree murder charges in the October 22 death of 28-year-old Lamont Demby of Camden City.
By Matt Skoufalos | November 8, 2021
Collingswood High School. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
A Collingswood man wanted in the killing of a Camden City man was arrested in Virginia after a week-long search, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO).
On October 28, 19-year-old Michael Allen was taken into custody at a home in Newport News, Virginia by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
The next day, Allen was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 28-year-old Lamont Demby of Camden City.
According to the CCPO, Demby was shot at 3:21 October 22 in the area of Jackson and Warsaw Streets in the Liberty Park neighborhood. He was transported to Cooper University Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 4:11 p.m.
October 22 was also the last day that Allen was present in Collingswood High School, where he is a current 11th-grade student, according to Collingswood Superintendent of Schools Fredrick McDowell. Allen has been enrolled in the district for the past three years, McDowell said.
The superintendent said that Collingswood High School Principal Matthew Genna was notified in the middle of the following week that CCPO detectives had been searching for Allen, but school staff hadn’t suspected anything was amiss because absences due to illness or quarantine during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have complicated attendance.
Typically, when a student is absent from school, the district notifies their contact of record; the household of any student missing more than three consecutive days is called directly, McDowell said.
“In this COVID environment, it is not uncommon for students to be out for more than three days, or for the school to be notified in the middle of that,” the superintendent said.
Allen will not be permitted to return to school until the case is fully adjudicated, McDowell said. He noted that the district has on-campus and offsite counseling options for any student who experiences trauma or crisis as a result of the incident.
Any person charged with a criminal offense is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law. An arrest is not a conviction.
