KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson continues to weigh a clemency request for the ex-Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who was convicted of two felonies in the shooting death of Cameron Lamb on Dec. 3, 2019.
Eric DeValkienaere, a former detective with KCPD’s Violent Offender Squad, was convicted of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in November 2022 for shooting and killing of Lamb.
“No decision has been made regarding Mr. DeValkenaere’s case at this time,” a spokesperson for Parson’s office said via email to KSHB 41 on Thursday morning.
TIMELINE | Shooting of Lamb, conviction DeValkenaere
During the bench trial, Jackson County Presiding Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs found DeValkenaere guilty, because he and another member of his squad entered the backyard of Lamb’s residence in the 4100 block of College Avenue without a warrant, permission or probable cause.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in March 2023 and began serving that sentence in October 2023 after the Missouri Courts of Appeals for the Western District affirmed the trial court’s verdict.
The Missouri Supreme Court denied a motion to transfer the case to the state’s high court on Tuesday.
Parson — a former Polk County sheriff, whose office acknowledged receiving requests for clemency last June — previously said he would wait for the appeals process to play out before making a decision in the case.
Parson has liberally used his clemency powers since taking office when Eric Greitens resigned in June 2018, which is in line with national trends related to clemency.
But he drew heavy criticism when Parson commuted the remainder of a three-year sentence for former Kansas City Chiefs assistant Britt Reid, the son of head coach Andy Reid, to house arrest on March 1.
Reid was convicted of a drunk-driving crash that left then-5-year-old Ariel Young in a coma for 11 days and with permanent injuries from the crash.
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