Former Kansas City Cop Sentenced In Death Of Cameron Lamb
A former Kansas City police detective, has been sentenced to six years in prison for fatally shooting Cameron Lamb, a Black man, who was backing a pickup truck into a garage in 2019.
On Friday (March 4), Eric DeValkenaere was sentenced to three years for second-degree involuntary manslaughter and six years for armed criminal action, with the sentences to run at the same time.
In November, DeValkenaere was convicted of killing Lamb, 26, however Judge J. Dale Youngs ruled in February that the former detective will be allowed to remain free while he appeals his conviction. His attorneys argued he was not a threat to flee.
RELATED: Kansas City Detective Convicted In Killing Of Black Man Will Remain Free Even After Sentencing
DeValkenaere, who is white, shot Lamb in December 2019 as he was backing his red pickup truck into his basement garage. The former officer claimed he saw Lamb reaching for a gun.
The shooting happened shortly 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 DeValkenaere acted recklessly by entering Lamb’s property without a warrant and firing his gun within seconds of coming upon the pickup truck.
Prosecutors opposed DeValkenaere’s appeal bond motion, labeling it an “extraordinary request.”
“While a trial involving a police shooting is somewhat rare, the defendant’s former employment and the public nature of this case do not require this court to treat the circumstances presented in this motion differently,” prosecutors wrote in opposing the request, according to local station KCUR.
