Photo Credit: Jill Toyoshiba/jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com / The Kansas City Star
DeValkenaere is the first Kansas City law enforcement officer to be convicted for the fatal shooting of a Black man. Following the conviction, the department suspended DeValkenaere without pay.
A Jackson County judge found Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb, a Black man.
“What we sought in this case was a just outcome and that’s where we stand today,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker told reporters shortly after the verdict was rendered by Presiding Judge J. Dale Youngs.
Donna Drake, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email that the department acknowledged the court’s decision.