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Advertisement Family mourns 12-year-old as police make arrest in Cherokee Park slaying Boy found on path near Hogan's Fountain on Tuesday afternoon Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Police have arrested a 21-year-old homeless man in connection with the slaying of 12-year-old Ray Etheridge at Cherokee Park.View imagesJoseph Cambron was arrested Thursday on charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence. Police said Cambron admitted to everything.Mobile videoSurveillance video led police to Cambron, who lives in a camp not far from the site where Etheridge's body was found.Police picked up him Wednesday night and booked him Thursday morning.For Etheridge’s family, there’s relief Cambron is off the streets, but extreme anger as well."I don't know who this guy is. Being 21 years old and my son being 12, he had no business to even be around my son," said the victim's father, Ronald Etheridge.Police said Cambron and Ray Etheridge were acquaintances.The two got into some kind of physical fight Tuesday afternoon in Cherokee Park.According to police, Cambron stabbed Etheridge with a knife, then got rid of the weapon.A runner found the boy’s body around 4:30 p.m."We were able to put some information together, they did know each other from that area for a few weeks," said Homicide Unit Lt. Todd Kessinger.Ray Etheridge lived with his mother and stepfather. They were homeless and spent a lot of time at the Mid-City Mall.Police said the seventh-grader was with his mother at the Mid-City Mall on Tuesday after school when he wandered off.Surveillance video from the library there showed Etheridge with Cambron just before his death.Watch: More on Joseph Cambron's background"There is no justice for what's happened to my kid," Ronald Etheridge said at a press conference Thursday."What would you want to see happen to this man who's been arrested?" a reporter asked."Five minutes alone in a room with him myself," was the father's reply.Ronald Etheridge saw his son on weekends and said there were no indication anything was wrong the last time they were together."The love of my life was my son," Ronald Etheridge said."He never met a stranger, too trustworthy at times, kind of naive because he loved everyone. He wanted to be your friend. If he had a little bit of money, you had a little bit of money," said the victim's brother's stepmother, Monica Lun.Loved ones said there are no words to describe the pain and grief.Ray Etheridge has a 9-year-old brother, who at such a young age, must also make sense of losing a sibling."I hope he goes to heaven and I love him," said brother Dylan Fanning.The family will hold a memorial and remembrance ceremony for Ray Etheridge at 4 p.m. Sunday at the park.Master P has decided to cover the boy's funeral expenses.There's a fund to raise money for a headstone. Donations are being accepted at an PNC Bank branch under the Ray Allen Etheridge Memorial Fund.A few weeks ago, Cambron was acquitted of a sexual abuse charge involving a child.According to court records, the child was a 6-year-old girl and it was alleged that Cambron abused her in his apartment.The trial was held in August.Cambron was indicted in September 2013 on a charge of sexual abuse with the victim under the age of 12.Investigators contended it happened in Cambron's apartment located near Palatka and St. Andrews Church roads.Photos of the inside were presented at trial. Police said while the child, who was a neighbor, was in the apartment, Cambron threw knives at the wall.In a police interview, Cambron denied he abused the girl, but admitted he had a bad temper and that he had even broken bones in his hand and wrist after getting mad."I've probably caused more damage to myself than I had anyone else," Cambron said in a police interview. "I don't know. I try to bottle it up so I don't hit someone else."Pending the trial, Cambron had been free on home incarceration and was receiving Social Security benefits and counseling at Seven Counties.His attorney had tried to have him ruled incompetent.At the end of the three-day trial, the jury found Cambron not guilty. Pending the trial, Cambron was charged with escape after he went AWOL while on home incarceration.He was given 300 days in jail, but was given credit for time served.