Prosecutor urges Missouri governor not to pardon KC cop convicted of killing Black man

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker on Tuesday made public a letter urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson not to pardon a former Kansas City police detective who was convicted of killing a Black man.

The letter, addressed to Parson and dated June 13, says Baker has learned of reports that Parson is considering pardoning Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted in 2021 of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of Cameron Lamb.

DeValkenaere’s 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 her letter, Baker notes that the appeals process has not finished working through the courts.

“Your pardon now would preempt Attorney General Bailey’s defense of this conviction and subvert the rule of law,” Baker wrote. “The appellate process has not yet concluded. I am aware that you have been lobbied to pardon this officer, even before his trial. I imagine you might view a pardon as a way to support police. But I expect this extreme action for the only KCPD officer convicted of fatally shooting a black man will ignite distrust, protests, and public safety concerns for citizens and for police.”

Letter from Jackson County Prosecutor by Ian Cummings on Scribd

Lamb’s mother, Laurie Bey, said Tuesday she supports Baker’s letter. Bey said if DeValkenaere is pardoned, it would be devastating to the family.

“I’m crushed, I’m hurt,” she said. “We are trying to do everything we can to keep his memory alive. I agree with the letter and Jean is doing everything that she can do to put a stop to this.”

Gwen Grant, president/CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City said the potential pardon would create more distrust and further erode the relationship between KCPD and the community it serves.

“Pardoning DeValkenaere for committing the crimes of Involuntary Manslaughter and Armed Criminal Action provides irrefutable evidence that Kansas City police officers can murder Black men and women with impunity; pardoning DeValkenaere before he serves a single day in jail sends a clear message that Governor Parson has no respect for the letter of the law or Black lives; Pardoning DeValkenaere will decimate community trust. Crime and violence will continue to rise, and KCPD’s solve rate will worsen,” Grant said in an email to The Star.

Grant continued: “The fact that neither AG Bailey nor Governor Parson has picked up the phone to talk with Cameron Lamb’s family or paid them a visit while they plot on how to shield DeValkenaere from justice is unconscionable and disheartening.”

Kelli Jones, a spokeswoman for Parson, said the governor’s office received the letter from Baker. In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Jones accused the prosecutor of attempting to score “political points” with voters.

“It’s disappointing that the Jackson County Prosecutor would play political games when Governor Parson has a proven, bipartisan record of working to improve the criminal justice system as a whole,” Jones said. “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 pointed to Parson’s record of 20 commutations and 538 pardons granted from 3,700 applications as evidence he takes “the implementation of justice seriously.”

“Every application goes through a thorough and thoughtful review before any decision is made,” Jones said of the clemency process. “Eric DeValkenaere’s will be treated the exact same if he applies.”

Lawmakers respond

Several Missouri lawmakers said a pardon in this case would show a racial bias and erode efforts to hold police accountable.

“In August 2021, Governor Parson pardoned Mark and Patricia McCloskey who brandished firearms at peaceful protesters — most of whom were Black — who were marching against police violence against Black Americans,” said state Rep. Marlene Terry, a St. Louis Democrat, who chairs the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus.

“If the governor follows through with his plan to pardon a former Kansas City police officer convicted of wrongfully killing a Black Missourian, it would only bolster the impression he left in 2021 that he believes different systems of justice should exist for white Missourians and Missourians of color,” Terry said.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, said police officers are tasked with upholding the law and those violate it should be held responsible for their actions.

“By pardoning convicted killer Eric DeValkenaere, the governor not only would deny justice to the victim but shred any faith Missourians have that the law applies equally to all,” Quade said. “The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has fought to ensure justice is done in this case. If the governor won’t help them uphold the law, he should at least stay out of their way.”

The shooting

On Dec. 3, 2019, Lamb got into an argument with his girlfriend, according to trial testimony. The argument became physical. At one point, Lamb’s girlfriend left their home and he chased her in his truck.

During that chase, he received a call from a roommate to return home.

Meanwhile, DeValkenaere and another plainclothes detective, Troy Schwalm, had been notified by a police helicopter of the chase.

The detectives, who were members of the Violent Offenders Squad, arrived at Lamb’s home and tried to detain him as the 26-year-old was backing his pickup truck down a sloped driveway into his garage.

DeValkenaere shot and killed Lamb roughly nine seconds after he and Schwalm arrived at the residence.

DeValkenaere later said he fired several shots after Lamb pointed a gun at Schwalm. Police 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.

DeValkenaere was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury in June 2020.

Criminal trial

At trial, prosecutors argued DeValkenaere did not have authority to be on the property when he killed Lamb. They also alleged the crime scene was staged and police planted the gun at the scene.

Before he was shot, Lamb had his left hand on the truck’s steering wheel and his cellphone in his right hand, prosecutors said.

DeValkenaere, who testified on his own behalf, has said he shot Lamb because he saw a gun and feared his partner would be killed otherwise.

Jackson County Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs, who oversaw the bench trial, ultimately sided with prosecutors, finding that DeValkenaere recklessly killed Lamb. In his ruling, Youngs referenced protections afforded to citizens under the Fourth Amendment.

Youngs said neither detective had a legal right to be on the property and violated Lamb’s constitutional rights because they had no probable cause to believe he had committed a crime. Youngs also said they had no warrant to arrest Lamb and did not have a search warrant or consent to be on the property.

Youngs sentenced DeValkenaere to six years in prison in the killing.

Following the conviction, DeValkenaere left the police department. Police did not say if he was fired, resigned or retired.

DeValkenaere has been allowed to remain free on a $30,000 bond while he appeal the verdict in the courts.

The appeal

In October, DeValkenaere took his case to the Missouri Court of Appeals to have Youngs’ verdict overturned, or to be given a new trial.

In an 84-page brief, lawyers for DeValkenare argued the decision to convict DeValkenaere was based on a flawed analysis of the law. Attorney Jonathan Laurans wrote that DeValkenaere and Schwalm had probable cause to arrest Lamb for traffic violations and be on his property before the shooting.

Laurans said police did not trespass on private property, were not the “initial aggressors” during the shooting and that their use of force was lawful.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office is responsible for arguing to uphold the conviction during the appeals process. Since February 2022, the attorney general’s office has failed to submit a brief to the appellate court, seeking six extensions to do so and contributing to lengthy court delays.

On June 2, Missouri Court of Appeals Chief Judge Gary D. Witt, ruled that absolutely no further extensions would be granted.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office told The Star on Friday that a brief would be filed no later than the final deadline set by the court.

“The Attorney General’s Office represents the state of Missouri in felony criminal appeals and will file a brief in this case no later than the June 26 deadline set by the court,” Madeline Sieren told The Star in an email.

Relatives of Lamb, who was a father of three, immediately questioned the police version of events after the shooting and have long sought criminal and civil penalties for DeValkenaere. In June 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and DeValkenaere personally.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the family said DeValkenaere and Schwalm “stormed around the side of the house” and into the backyard before shooting Lamb. They said DeValkenaere provided no warning before firing four shots, striking Lamb twice.

The civil case remains pending in federal court.

KCPD support for DeValkenaere

As police reform activists celebrated the conviction, law enforcement boosters — including some KCPD leaders — have continued to support DeValkenaere.

Among them was Kansas City Police Department Capt. Daniel Graves — husband of Chief Stacey Graves — who wrote a letter seeking leniency from the court as DeValkenaere’s appeal was about to get underway. Daniel Graves said DeValkenaere lived across the street from their Northland home in 2008.

The criminal charges were “politically motivated,” Daniel Graves said in his letter.

“This is not a man who would intentionally hurt someone unprovoked or with malice. I have watched him at work be a man of patience and compassion. Never a man of recklessness, ineptitude or trial,” Daniel Graves said in the letter to Youngs.

Chief Graves previously told The Star it is not unusual for police officers to show their support for a colleague in peril and called the entire situation “a tragedy.”

“(Eric) DeValkenaere is a human. He’s a father. He’s a coach,” Graves said of the letter.

“That whole situation (fatal shooting) was a tragedy,” she said. “Someone lost their son. Someone lost their father. It was a tragedy. And I bet if you asked everyone involved in that situation if they could have a do over again they would say yes, and things would be different.”

The Lamb case was one of several controversies during the tenure of former police chief Rick Smith, who for months faced calls by activists to step down from his position as several Black men were fatally shot by police. Eventually, Smith was forced out by members of the police board.

During DeValkenaere’s trial, it was revealed that Smith had been recorded on a dashcam video saying “bad guy’s dead” minutes after Lamb was killed.

The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed to this report.