With DeValkenaere clemency, Mo. Gov. Parson makes mockery of criminal justice system | Opinion
I don’t personally know the heart of outgoing Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. But it would not be a stretch to argue whether the former Polk County Sheriff actually believes in the concept of law and order that he and his Republican allies around this state pretend to support.
I even question if Parson values the lives of Black men like myself. How else to explain the commuted sentence Parson granted to former police detective Eric DeValkenaere, the first Kansas City police officer convicted of killing an unarmed Black man?
It’s not hyperbole to label DeValkenaere a killer cop — he is. And no amount of whitewashing history will ever change this sobering yet all too real fact. I make no bones about this assertion that DeValkenaere unjustly killed Cameron Lamb, and my hope is that neither do any of you reading this column.
“In Missouri, clemency powers rest exclusively with the Governor. After careful consideration, Governor Parson today exercised his constitutional authority on a number of final pending clemency petitions,” Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett told The Star.
Evidence clearly showed DeValkenaere fatally shot Lamb in 2019. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. And we know this to be true because during a 2021 bench trial, Jackson County Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs found the ex-cop guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in Lamb’s death.
Among the credible findings Jackson County prosecutors presented in open court:
- Lamb, the father of three children, was unarmed and not a threat to DeValkenaere or his partner, Troy Schwalm, or anyone else.
- DeValkenaere and Schwalm had no legal right to be on the property of a home Lamb lived in the 4100 block of College Avenue in Kansas City. DeValkenaere shot Lamb nine seconds after arriving in his yard without a warrant.
- When Lamb was shot, he was backing a truck into his own garage with his left hand on the steering wheel while using a mobile phone with his right hand. As a result, prosecutors said that Lamb could not have pointed a gun at Schwalm, as DeValkenaere claimed.
- Also worth noting: According to prosecutors, Lamb did not have full use of his left hand because of a previous injury — the same one DeValkenaere claimed he saw Lamb hold a gun in. In short, this disgraced former police officer lied about the actions of a dead man.
- A gun was planted on the scene to make Lamb out to be a perceived threat, according to prosecutors.
So why is DeValkenaere being freed from prison after serving less than half the six-year prison sentence he was given?
“Because of politics,” attorney David Smith said.
Or maybe just a lack of respect on Parson’s part for Black lives. Remember, this is the same governor who failed to stay the execution of a Black man named Marcellus “Khaliifa” Williams. Evidence cast doubt on Williams’ guilt in the 1998 murder of a former newspaper reporter in St. Louis. Despite St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell fighting on Williams’ behalf, Missouri still executed him.
Smith is representing Lamb’s family in a $10 million civil rights lawsuit filed against the Kansas City Police Department. DeValkenaere and the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners are also named in the suit making its way through federal court.
Parson extending clemency to DeValkenaere “is not right,” Smith said. “What message does this send to the community?” he asked.
Further, how are people in the Black community supposed to feel about this perversion of justice? When minority folk scream at the top of their lungs that Black lives matter, this is a prime example of what we mean.
When asked about how Lamb’s mother, Laurie Bey, reacted to news that clemency in this case was pending, Smith said Bey was hurt by Parson’s decision.
“She’s devastated,” Smith said.
Smith estimated this case has gone before close to a dozen judges at the circuit, appellate and state supreme court levels. Not one of them has cast doubt on DeValkenaere’s guilt, Smith correctly pointed out.
“The Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and the Missouri Supreme Court refused to take up the case,” he said.
In a statement, Nimrod Chapel, Jr. of the Missouri NAACP, chided Parson for picking and choosing when to trust the criminal justice system.
“To ask for the release of a convicted officer speaks to a troubling disregard for both the process of justice and the people it’s meant to protect,” Chapel said. “Why should the people of Missouri trust our judicial system if the Governor doesn’t trust the system? How do we restore confidence in law enforcement if we can’t trust the system to hold guilty officers accountable?”
Just as Chapel alluded to in his statement, we all must ask ourselves: Where is justice for Lamb and his family and friends who continue to carry the weight of this loss?
In this case, there is none thanks to Missouri’s lame duck governor.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 5:40 PM.
