A former Kansas City police detective was to be sentenced Friday for the death of a Black man who was shot while backing a pickup truck into a garage but he will remain free on bond while his conviction is appealed.
Eric DeValkenaere, 43, was convicted in November of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the death of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb on Dec. 3, 2019.
Prosecutors had recommended that Jackson County Circuit Court Presiding Judge J. Dale Youngs sentence DeValkenaere, who is white, to four years for involuntary manslaughter and nine years for armed criminal action, with the sentences to run at the same time.
Youngs, who convicted DeValkenaere after a bench trial, ruled in February that he could remain free while his conviction is appealed.
DeValkenaere’s attorney, Molly Hastings, argued the former detective was not a flight risk and noted the judge found “no evidence of malice” in DeValkenaere’s conduct.
The judge has said that he had never in 13 years on the bench allowed a defendant to remain free on bond after a conviction. But he said he did not believe it would be necessary to jail the former detective without bond to ensure he appeared at future court proceedings.
DeValkenaere has been free on $30,000 bond since he was convicted.
DeValkenaere testified during his trial that he shot Lamb as he was backing his pickup truck into a garage where he lived because Lamb pointed a gun at another detective, Troy Schwalm.
The plainclothes detectives had followed Lamb to the property to investigate an earlier report that he had chased his girlfriend in a stolen pickup truck.
Prosecutors alleged a gun found near Lamb's truck after the shooting was planted and the crime scene was staged. They also said the detectives had no reason to be on Lamb's property.
When he convicted DeValkenaere, Youngs said the detectives violated Lamb's constitutional rights because they had no probable cause to believe he had committed a crime, had no warrant for Lamb’s arrest and had no search warrant or consent to be on the property. He did not address the allegations that evidence had been planted.
DeVlakenaere was suspended from the police force after his conviction and left the force in January. Police have not said if he was fired, resigned or retired.
