A Kansas City police officer could get a pardon from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson – without even asking for one – for his role in the death of a Black man in his own backyard, the Kansas City Star reported today.
The officer, Eric DeValkenaere, who is white, was sentenced to six years in prison last year after his conviction in the 2020 fatal shooting of Cameron Lamb, a 26-year-old Black man who was backing his truck into his garage, the Star reported. DeValkenaere, who has been free pending appeals since his conviction, was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and armed criminal action.
Parson, a Republican, made the comment to the Star about his power to pardon DeValkenaere as he was criticizing Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Baker, a Democrat, for writing a letter suggesting that he was preparing to do just that.
“(Parson) said his office has had no conversations about pardoning DeValkenaere, the Star reported. “Parson said he has not received an application from DeValkenaere and criticized Baker for a letter she wrote last week suggesting that Parson may soon issue a pardon.
“There is nothing in place that we’ve had the conversation about pardoning this guy,” Parson told reporters at an event Wednesday in Kansas City. “So, it’s just a lot of propaganda.”
According to the Star, “Baker said she learned from multiple reports that Parson was considering pardoning the former Kansas City police detective even as an appeal works through the courts.”
Here’s part of Baker's letter, as reported earlier by the Star:
“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.”
The Star noted today that “a pardon could provoke an explosive backlash in Kansas City and would be a sweeping assertion of executive power by Parson over the judicial process.”
“Parson, a former sheriff and longtime supporter of the police, indicated that he disagreed with some of the facts associated with the prosecution of DeValkenaere.
“During the trial, prosecutors said DeValkenaere and his partner Troy Schwalm did not have authority to be on the property when he fatally shot Lamb. Prosecutors also said the crime scene was staged and evidence, including a handgun that belonged to Lamb, was planted.”
DeValkenaere is believed to be the first Kansas City law enforcement to have stood trial for the fatal shooting of a Black man since 1941.