KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The parents of Cameron Lamb said Tuesday evening, that KCPD Chief Rick Smith's alleged remarks about her son minutes after he was shot and killed by a detective, "dehumanize" him.
The audio was captured on a dash camera from a police cruiser parked at the scene on Dec. 3, 2019.
That was the day former KCPD detective Eric Devalkenaere shot and killed Cameron Lamb in his own backyard.
Smith didn't address the public that day about what happened.
In the audio, Smith can allegedly be heard saying "Everyone is good. House is clear. Bad guy’s dead."
It's that last phrase that cuts deep to Laurie Bey, who is Lamb's mother.
"So, he tried to dehumanize my son before they even had a thorough investigation?" Laurie Bey told KSHB 41 News.
Smith's remarks were captured minutes after the shooting.
"Chief Smith saying the 'Bad guy’s is dead,' he then set the stage, [that what] what officer Devalkenaere did and what Schwalm did, [there] was nothing wrong with it," Aqil Bey, Lamb's stepfather said. "Because they got a bad guy even though they broke the law, [and they] didn't have no probable cause."
Smith's audio wasn't brought up during Devalkenaere's trial, that ended with a judge convicting the detective of involuntary slaughter and armed criminal action for killing Lamb.
"I know what type of person he was," Laurie Bey said. "He was very loving. And he would have complied with whatever they were saying, and I know that he was complying."
Days after the guilty verdict, Smith's future with the department made headlines, with news surfacing that he'd retire in 2022.
But with this recording surfacing, Lamb's family wants him out before then.
"From saying something like, that had a scene in which he just appeared and don't know what really happened," Aqil Bey said. "He needed to voluntarily say, 'I need to get out of here, I did what I could do.'"
The family would also like to see a federal investigation into KCPD's policies and procedures as a result of Lamb's death.
They are planning for a private family gathering on Friday to remember and honor Lamb on the second anniversary of his death.
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