Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere was found guilty by a Jackson County Judge of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb, who was a Black man, KCUR reports.
“What we sought in this case was a just outcome and that’s where we stand today,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker told reporters shortly after the verdict. The department said that DeValkenaere had been suspended pending termination as a result of his conviction.
From KCUR:
DeValkenaere is believed to be the first Kansas City law enforcement officer since 1941 to have stood trial for the fatal shooting of a Black man. The police officer in the earlier case was acquitted.
Jackson County prosecutors argued that DeValkenaere recklessly shot Cameron Lamb on Dec. 3, 2019, as Lamb was sitting in a pickup truck and backing into his garage at 41st Street and College Avenue.
The shooting occurred not long after a police helicopter spotted a red truck chasing a purple Mustang at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour through a residential neighborhood.
Prosecutors argued that DeValkenaere acted recklessly by entering Lamb’s property without a warrant, knocking over a makeshift fence and firing his weapon within seconds of coming upon the pickup truck.
Read the full report over at KCUR.
