Suspended Kansas City police detective pleads not guilty in killing of Cameron Lamb
A suspended Kansas City police detective pleaded not guilty Tuesday in the 2019 killing of a man who was shot while sitting in his pickup truck in his own backyard.
Eric J. DeValkenaere, 41, was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury last Thursday for first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Dec. 3 killing of Cameron Lamb, 26, in the 4100 block of College Avenue.
DeValkenaere made his first court appearance through a video conference connection inside a second floor courtroom at the Albert Riederer Community Justice Complex at 13th and Locust streets. The hearing was held by video as a precaution to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
During the hearing, which lasted about five minutes, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf by his defense attorney, Molly Hastings.
Hastings said she had not received any discovery material from prosecutors but the hearing was allowed to proceed.
DeValkenaere remains free after posting a $30,000 bond. The criminal case was assigned to a trial division and DeValkenaere has a hearing scheduled for July 30.
The police department said that DeValkenaere has been an officer since September 1999 and was assigned to the investigative bureau. He has been suspended.
Police investigation
Civil rights groups have criticized the Kansas City Police Department’s investigation of the case including withholding a probable cause statement from the prosecutor’s office while it was considering filing charges against DeValkenaere.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office was “stymied” by the department’s failure to send the statement.
Earlier this month, protesters raised the issue with Chief Rick Smith and the department reversed course on the apparent policy of withholding the statements. Mayor Quinton Lucas also announced that police shootings will be investigated by an outside agency.
On Tuesday, a group of activists organizing as One Struggle KC renewed calls for Smith to resign. They also said Smith should be charged with obstruction for impeding investigations of officers, including withholding the statements in the Lamb case and a March police shooting that took the life of another man, Donnie Sanders, who was not armed.
According to the attorney representing Lamb’s family, a federal investigation will also be opened. In a statement released last week by attorney S. Lee Merritt, Lamb’s family said President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr committed to investigating the officer and the department.
Cameron Lamb’s death
According to police, the shooting happened after an officer went to investigate a disturbance between two vehicles. A police helicopter tracked one of the vehicles as it pulled behind a home on College Avenue.
Detectives approached a man in the vehicle and “the officer was put in a position where he had to discharge his firearm,” a police department spokesman previously said.
According to court records, DeValkenaere and another detective, Troy Schwalm, were in the area when they responded to radio dispatches regarding a traffic incident.
Schwalm arrived at the home first, drew his gun and walked to the backyard.
Lamb had backed his pickup into the garage while DeValkenaere positioned himself on the other side of the house.
Prosecutors allege the detectives, who were in plainclothes, did not ask for permission to walk onto the property and did not have a warrant.
Schwalm told investigators that as he stood on the driver’s side of the pickup truck, he could see Lamb. Schwalm also said he noticed Lamb’s left hand and Lamb looking at him.
Schwalm stated there was no gun in Lamb’s left hand, according to prosecutors.
DeValkenaere said he could see both hands from where he was standing, according to the affidavit. He said Lamb’s right hand was on the steering wheel and he saw Lamb slide his left hand down his body, reach into his waistband, pull a gun and point it at Schwalm.
DeValkenaere fired, striking Lamb.
Tactical officers entered the garage and found Lamb inside the truck with his left arm hanging out of the open driver’s side window. Police said they identified a gun on the ground beneath Lamb’s hand.
Medical records show that Lamb is right-handed and he did not have full use of his left hand as a result of an injury sustained in 2015, according to prosecutors.
This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
