KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge on Friday found a Kansas City police detective guilty of involuntary manslaughter for shooting and killing a Black man in his own backyard in 2019, according to multiple reports.
Eric DeValkenaere, 43, was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action following the deadly shooting of Cameron Lamb, 26, on Dec. 3, 2019, according to the Kansas City Star. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs found him guilty Friday of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, the newspaper reported.
DeValkenaere had earlier waived his right to a jury trial, according to KCUR.
The news station reported that Lamb was shot after officers in a police helicopter saw a red truck chasing a purple Ford Mustang through a residential neighborhood at speeds of up to 90 mph. Officers saw the truck driven by Lamb and followed it, according to the Star.
Prosecutors said DeValkenaere opened fire on Lamb nine seconds after walking from the front of the house to the back, the Star reported. They called his conduct “reckless” and said it violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Defense attorneys argued that DeValkenaere had no choice but to shoot Lamb and that officers didn’t need a search warrant, probable cause or consent to go onto Lamb’s property considering “the totality of the circumstances,” according to the Star.
DeValkenaere took the stand during the bench trial, becoming emotional as he testified that he saw a gun in Lamb’s hand and that he felt a duty to protect his partner before he shot Lamb, KMBC reported.
Prosecutors accused police of planting evidence in the case. An officer who arrived at the scene just after the shooting testified in court that he didn’t see a gun on the ground below Lamb’s left arm when he responded, although one was later seen there in police photographs, according to The Associated Press. Two bullets were also found inside Lamb’s pockets at the morgue, though crime scene technicians didn’t find them at the scene, the AP reported.
On the stand, DeValkenaere denied planting evidence, the Star reported. Youngs did not address the allegation while delivering his verdict, according to the AP.
The judge determined that DeValkenaere and his partner lacked probable cause that a crime had occurred when they entered Lamb’s property, KMBC reported. He said that the officers had a duty to retreat but instead escalated a situation that had previously de-escalated, according to the news station.
Lamb’s mother, Laurie Bey, told reporters that she was happy with Friday’s verdict, though she added that she missed her “baby” and that “this just did not have to be.”
“My son was at his home, and he was minding his own business when they took it upon themselves to go into the backyard,” she said, according to the AP. “He was very needed not only to his family but to the community.”
Attorneys for DeValkenaere are expected to appeal the ruling, KCUR reported. DeValkenaere remained free on bond Friday pending a sentencing hearing, for which a date was not immediately set, according to the news station.
In a statement obtained by KMBC, the Kansas City Police Department acknowledged Friday’s verdict.
“Every officer involved shooting is difficult not only for the members in the community, but also the members of the police department,” the statement said.
DeValkenaere has been suspended from the police department without pay pending termination, according to KCUR and KMBC.
DeValkenaere had been a member of the police department for 20 years and was on its Violent Offender Squad at the time of the shooting, KCUR reported.
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