Prosecutor says Parson should meet family before pardoning KC cop in Black man’s killing

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Tuesday she encourages Missouri’s governor to meet with the family of a man killed in a police shooting before making a decision about pardoning the former officer convicted in the case.

In an interview with The Star, Baker said pardoning Eric DeValkenaere, who in 2021 was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Cameron Lamb, would leave a scar in the community.

The prosecutor spoke hours after making public a letter to the governor urging him not to pardon DeValkenaere. In the letter, Baker said she learned from multiple reports that Gov. Mike Parson was considering pardoning the former Kansas City police detective even as an appeal works through the courts.

“This conviction is important to this community and to take it away without your voice being heard, would be a real harm,” Baker said.

Baker said Parson should also meet with members of the community. As a public servant, Baker said, Parson should want to talk to those who would be impacted by his decision.

Baker also said she thought it would be helpful if the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners called Parson and asked him to deny a pardon. Four of the five seats on the board are appointed by the governor while the mayor occupies the fifth seat.

“Certainly they should want that … it will make police officers’ jobs harder,” Baker said of a pardon.

Community members and faith leaders, along with Lamb’s family, also opposed a pardon, gathering Tuesday in front of the Jackson County courthouse.

In December 2019, DeValkenaere shot and killed Lamb, who would have turned 30 on Wednesday. His conviction marked the first time a Kansas City police officer was found guilty in the killing of a Black man. DeValkenaere was sentenced in March of last year to six years in prison. He has remained free on bond since then as he appeals the verdict.

In Baker’s letter, she said a pardon would preempt the appellate process and stoke deeper mistrust between the police and the community.

In response to the letter, Parson’s office said he was disappointed Baker “would play political games” and that he has “a proven, bipartisan record of working to improve the criminal justice system as a whole.”

Letter from Jackson County Prosecutor by Ian Cummings on Scribd

Prosecutor opposes pardon

On Dec. 3, 2019, Lamb had an argument with his girlfriend and chased her in his truck. He received a call from his roommate to return home.

DeValkenaere and his partner Troy Schwalm arrived as Lamb was backing his truck into the garage at his residence in the 4100 block of College Ave. Roughly nine seconds after they arrived, DeValkenaere shot and killed Lamb.

At trial, prosecutors argued the officers did not have authority to be on the property and alleged the police planted a gun found on the ground near Lamb’s left hand.

During a bench trial in November 2002, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Dale Youngs ruled DeValkenaere was guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, saying the officers had no warrant and no probable cause to be on the property when he shot Lamb.

In an interview Tuesday, Baker said every stage of the case has caused concern. The lead investigator, former homicide Sgt. Richard Sharp, previously supervised DeValkenaere and they were friends, Baker said. Her request to have Sharp replaced was rebuffed.

Under former KCPD Chief Rick Smith, the department refused to hand over a probable cause statement, a routine step between police and prosecutors.

So when reports that Parson was considering a pardon surfaced, Baker said, “It’s not all that surprising, I guess, but disappointing.”

Baker urged Parson to come to Kansas City to meet Lamb’s family and talk with people in the community.

“A pardon is the governor’s decision, but governors are part of a community as well. And I know this governor, you know, probably does not know Kansas City terribly well,” Baker said. “That’s why I wanted him to come to Kansas City and not for a Chiefs game, but come here to meet real Kansas Citians that will be impacted by this decision. And to be clear, I feel like I have to be clear, that’s not the Northland. That’s Kansas Citians that live in Jackson County.”

Kelli Jones, a spokesperson for Parson, said the governor has granted 20 commutations and 438 pardons.

“While the prosecutor tries to earn political points for her re-election bid, Governor Parson will continue working every day to support people across the state who are affected by crime,” Jones said in a statement. “Governor Parson is grounded in his faith and believes in second chances.”

DeValkenaere has not yet applied for a pardon, Jones said.

Applicants for executive clemency — pardons, commutations and reprieves — must have tried and failed to obtain all other avenues for sentence reduction first, including judicial appeals, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Concern about Cameron Lamb shooting

After Baker’s letter became public Tuesday, community activists as well as members of Lamb’s family gathered at the entrance of the Jackson County courthouse in downtown Kansas City.

Standing in a circle and holding hands, the group said a prayer led by Emanuel Cleaver III, senior pastor at St. James United Methodist Church.

“Because you are a God of justice, so we ask that you will touch the mind of Gov. Parson to see and know and understand that this is much bigger than any political thing,” he said. “And Lord, we just ask for peace in this city. So shower us with your love, your peace, your strength and help us oh Lord to act as your change agents.”

Several community leaders have spoken against a pardon.

“I think politics should not be a game played when a family has been devastated and three boys will have to grow up without a father in this troubled world,” said Sheryl Ferguson, an organizer with It’s Time 4 Justice.

The Rev. Vernon P. Howard Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said a pardon is not just, nor is it equal protection.

“Rarely do we see pardons or stays of execution for Black men who fall prey to the systemic racism and injustice of the criminal justice system even when legitimate questions surrounding conviction exist,” Howard said. “It is certainly peculiar and unexplainable to say the least, why a pardon would be considered having no legal basis whatsoever, based on how I read the Peters-Baker letter.”

The local activist group Decarcerate KC said the organization was concerned about the impact a pardon would have on Lamb’s family and pointed to the larger issue of state control over local matters.

“It’s a travesty that we can’t even make decisions about justice in our local community without the state coming in and reversing the local court’s decision,” the group said in a statement.

“It only takes one swipe for Parson to undo an entire legal process–what does that say about our systems? How can we be expected to trust in a system that allows this to happen?”

A response in DeValkenaere’s appeal from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office is due by June 26.