‘There’s no defense here’: Protesters urge ex-KC cop DeValkenaere’s conviction to stand

Protesters gathered outside the Missouri Court of Appeals Tuesday morning urging judges not to overturn the conviction of former Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the 2019 killing of Cameron Lamb.

Oral arguments started at 9 a.m. at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District in Kansas City, where DeValkenaere, who is white, was seeking a new trial or to have his conviction overturned in the fatal shooting of Lamb, a Black man.

Family members entering the courthouse were greeted by more than 20 protesters chanting Lamb’s name. They held a banner with portraits of Lamb featuring doves flying around him that called for justice and said he will be “forever loved.”

Protesters said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was working against Black and brown residents and denying facts of the killing by arguing the conviction should be overturned. Bailey’s office, which argued on behalf of the state, filed a brief in August saying DeValkenaere was wrongfully convicted.

“He thinks he can just ignore how important it was for us to see a cop convicted for killing a Black man in our city,” said Steve Young, a co-founder of KC LEAP (Law Enforcement Accountability Project). “The AG has already done more for a killer cop than he would have done for any of us.”

Judge W. Douglas Thomson said in an order last month that DeValkenaere’s attorneys would have 10 minutes to present their arguments, followed by 10 minutes for Bailey’s office to reply.

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office then had 10 minutes to defend the conviction, and DeValkanaere’s attorneys were given three minutes for rebuttal.

Jalisa Davis, an activist with Decarcerate KC, said Bailey’s decision to challenge the conviction further emphasizes that the justice system only protects certain residents. Already, she contended, DeValkenaere’s six-year sentence was too short for the killing, and pointed out he has yet to spend time in jail.

“A badge doesn’t give anyone the right to determine the fate of another,” she said, “and if the system can’t require the same professionalism from these cops and prosecutors and attorneys and judges that they demand from the rest of us, then this contract should be null and void.”

There have been multiple efforts since the conviction to lobby Gov. Mike Parson to pardon DeValkenaere. While Parson said in June that his office hadn’t discussed a pardon, he emphasized that he had the power to do so, even if DeValkenaere doesn’t apply for clemency.

Parson also criticized Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker for a letter she wrote urging the Republican governor not to pardon DeValkenaere.

By arguing to overturn the conviction, Gwen Grant, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said the attorney general is working against long established rules of the justice system and trying to make special rules for DeValkenaere.

“There’s no defense here,” Grant said. “DeValkenaere’s own words and actions condemn him.”

If Parson decides to pardon DeValkenaere, Grant said it will show that justice will not be upheld for people of color in Missouri.

“It screams if you are Black or brown and you believe in equal justice for all,” she said, “... if you believe that those who commit murder, even if they wear a badge, should be held accountable, then according to the governor you don’t belong here. You’re not safe here.”

The conviction

DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison after he was found guilty during a bench trial of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the killing of Lamb.

The decision was the first time a Kansas City police officer was convicted in the shooting death of a Black man.

On Dec. 3, 2019, DeValkenaere shot and killed Lamb about nine seconds after the officer and his partner arrived at Lamb’s home while investigating a reported traffic incident. Lamb, 26, was backing his pickup truck down a driveway into his garage when DeValkenaere shot him.

DeValkenaere was indicted by a grand jury in June 2020 and testified during a criminal trial that Lamb pointed a gun at his partner when he opened fire.

Police said at the time that they found Lamb inside the truck with his left arm and head hanging out of the driver’s side window and a handgun on the ground near his left hand. At the trial, prosecutors argued that evidence had been planted and the crime scene was staged.

The Star’s Glenn Rice contributed.