Ex-Kansas City detective who killed Cameron Lamb will learn his prison sentence today
A former Kansas City police detective will learn Friday afternoon how many years in prison he will serve for the shooting death of Cameron Lamb.
Eric DeValkenaere, 43, was convicted in November of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Dec. 3, 2019, killing in Lamb’s back yard.
Lamb was backing his pickup truck into the garage of his residence at 4154 College Ave. when DeValkenaere opened fire, fatally wounding Lamb.
Prosecutors have asked Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs to sentence DeValkenaere to four years in prison on the manslaughter charge and nine years for the armed criminal action conviction. Prosecutors want the prison sentences to run concurrently.
After the sentencing, DeValkenaere will remain free on bond while he appeals his conviction. Youngs recently granted a defense request for DeValkenaere not to be taken into custody after the hearing.
The criminal trial and subsequent verdict captured national headlines. It was the first time a white Kansas City police officer was found guilty in the shooting death of a Black man.
It also hastened an effort by several members of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners to have Police Chief Rick Smith removed.
A police department spokesperson later announced that Smith would resign as police chief in spring. But police officials said Smith had previously alerted members of the Board of Police Commissioners that he intended to retire as chief after serving five years.
Missouri law allows Youngs to sentence DeValkenaere to four years in prison on the manslaughter charge and at least three years for the armed criminal action charge. He will also decide if those sentences run consecutively or concurrently.
Prosecutors said DeValkenaere has never taken responsibility for Lamb’s death or his role in the events that led up to the deadly shooting.
The shooting happened after officers investigating an unrelated vehicle crash reported a red pickup chasing a purple Ford Mustang. Helicopter officers spotted the truck driven by Lamb and followed the vehicle to his residence.
DeValkenaere said he fired several shots after Lamb pointed a gun at his partner, detective Troy Schwalm. Police later found Lamb inside the truck with his left arm and head hanging out of the driver’s side window. A handgun was found on the ground near Lamb’s left hand, police said at the time.
During the criminal trial, prosecutors alleged the crime scene was staged and evidence was planted. They also said it took only nine seconds from the time DeValkenaere arrived at the front yard of the house to the moment he fatally shot Lamb.
In announcing his verdict in November, Youngs said DeValkenaere and Schwalm did not have a search warrant or probable cause to be on Lamb’s property.
Youngs noted that in fatally shooting Lamb, DeValkenaere was not acting in self defense nor was he protecting Schwalm from being shot. By being on the property, DeValkenaere and Schwalm both escalated a situation that “previously had de-escalated and that their actions created or exacerbated the risk that ultimately occurred.”
“The court concludes that this conduct was a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise in this situation, and constituted criminal negligence as that phrase is defined under Missouri law,” Youngs said.
In separate sentencing memorandums to Youngs, prosecutors and defense attorneys painted contrasting images of the former plainclothes detective.
Prosecutors said DeValkenaere created a false impression that he and Schwalm received information that there were guns involved in the vehicle pursuit that sought to color Lamb as a fleeing and violent felon.
In the defense’s memorandum, attorney Dawn Parsons pleaded for leniency in sentencing and wrote that DeValkenaere “deserves a sentence that takes into account his character and contributions to this community.”
