Cameron Reilly remembered as ‘beautiful angel’ by pals after killer convicted

Friends and family have been paying tribute to their “beautiful angel” following the conviction of his killer, Aaron Connolly, earlier this week.

A touching video showing the 18-year-old surrounded by friends was shared on Facebook.

"4 years. After 4 years we finally got the justice you & your family needed,” a close friend said on social media.

"You’ll forever and always be in everyone’s hearts. I love & miss you so much️, our beautiful angel.”

Blue heart emojis filled the comments of the post, filled with photos of the teen smiling alongside friends.

Another said: “Hoping [the families] get some closure and get strength to carry on.”

"Taken way too soon,” one commented.

18-year-old Cameron Reilly was out with friends just outside the town of Dunleer on the night he was murdered by Aaron Conoelly in May 2018.

The Drumcar native plead not guilty to Cameron’s killing, telling gardaí in his interviews that: “I know I didn’t kill him, I’d know if I killed someone.”

Cameron had been socialising with a group of 15 young people in a field at Shamrock’s Hill on the night he died, where they drank alcohol and smoked cannabis.

The group headed to a local takeaway shortly before midnight, leaving around 40 minutes later.

A dog-walker found the teen’s body in the field the following morning.

Aaron Connolly, now 23-years-old, was found guilty of murder by a jury yesterday and will be sentenced on Tuesday.

The court had heard how Connolly could not recall a “missing hour” on the night Cameron died violently as he had taken a combination of drugs that made him black out.

Last week, lawyers for Connolly, who denied murdering the 18-year-old at Shamrock Hill, Dunleer, told the court the accused had oral sex with Mr Reilly on the night he was killed.

The jury also heard that Connolly denied that anything sexual happened between him and Mr Reilly and told gardaí that he was "straight".

Friends of Mr Reilly gave evidence to the trial that the teenager had confided in them that he was bisexual shortly before his death.

Cameron’s cause of death was by asphyxiation, the court heard.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt thanked the jury for their hard work in the trial telling them they had put in a “very hard and long shift”.

“These are terribly difficult matters,” he added.

He exempted each of them from jury duty for a period of 15 years.

The jury had been deliberating for a total of 10 hours and 39 minutes.