A teenager who moved with his mother and stepfather from Camden to upstate New York last year, in part to escape the city's violent streets, was shot and killed Sunday morning outside a house party in Rochester.

Anthony Turner, 17, was shot once in the back as he stood outside the house where the party was held, according to police, who said the shooting may have been gang-related.

The victim's mother, Quintina Keels, said she relocated to Rochester a little over a year ago, partly to get away from the violence that was prevalent in her Jackson Street neighborhood in Camden.

"There was a man shot and killed there right before we left . . . 13 months ago," she said yesterday.

Her son was a standout football player at East High School in Rochester and hoped to go to college, she said.

Turner attended Pennsauken High School for two years in a vocational-training program, but did not participate in sports there, she said.

At East, however, he also starred in track, continuing an athletic career that began in Camden recreational and youth leagues.

Keels said she knew very little about what happened on the night her son was killed. Nor, she said, does she know why he died.

"He went to a Halloween party," said Keels, 43. "I really don't know too much else."

Police said Turner was standing with a group outside a home when someone from another group opened fire.

Rochester Police Chief David Moore said at a news conference Monday that authorities believe the shooting may have been gang-related. He said officials were trying to determine if there was a connection to a shooting about an hour later in which a 31-year-old man was killed.

Moore said authorities had no suspects, according to a report in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Keels, meanwhile, is making funeral arrangements for her son. She said she also moved to Rochester to be closer to the family of her husband, Charles.

Turner was popular at East, where he was a two-year starting linebacker, she said. He worked at a McDonald's and had recently obtained his driver's permit and bought a car, she said.

"He was an outstanding person, and I'm so proud of him," Keels said.

"He was like a rose blossoming right out in the open. Everyone loved him. . . . He was mature and responsible. . . . And he was loved."

Contact staff writer George Anastasia at 856-779-3846 or ganastasia@phillynews.com.