KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cameron Lamb was shot and killed by Kansas City, Missouri, Police Officer Eric DeValkenaere in his backyard on Dec. 3, 2019. The five-year anniversary of his death came and went Tuesday.
One day later, the Lamb family gathered to renew a Christmas tradition Wednesday for the first time since Cameron’s death — family holiday pictures — and I was at the studio for a peek into the journey toward healing.
TIMELINE | Shooting of Lamb, conviction of ex-KCPD officer DeValkenaere
“I just have not been in a place where I felt like I wanted to do that, because of the void in not having my son,” Laurie Bey, his mother, said. “This right here, it’s a start, but it’s still because we’re going to look at these pictures and we’re going to know that he should be in this photo with us.”
Bey’s mom, Ruthell Pitre, was the first family bit by the Christmas bug.
“She would get out in the winter and decorate the outside, decorate the inside,” Bey said. “That legacy of hers carried over to me. I’m very festive. I love Christmas.”
But it’s been hard to celebrate the last few years. The family planned to get together Dec. 4 for holiday pictures in 2019 but canceled after Cameron was killed, and it never felt right to resurrect the tradition until now.
The oldest two of Cameron Lamb’s three sons — Cameron Jr., 12, and Cincere, 10 — were at the Sensei Brands studio for the photoshoot with BJ Sampson and fondly remembered their father.
“He was funny, he was loving, he was caring,” Cameron Jr. said. “He was a big family man. He was family-oriented.”
Both still deeply miss their dad.
“I don’t say he passed away,” Cameron Jr. said. “I say he lives through me and he’s always going to be in my heart.”
Cincere said he still talks to his dad and believes he listens and would be proud.
Cameron Jr. said he’s sure his dad would be proud of Cincere.
“He’s doing good in school,” Cameron Jr. said. “He’s not a follower. He’s a leader and he has his own mind. He knows how to think.”
Cincere feels the same way, saying Cameron would be proud of Cameron Jr., “because he’s a wise man ... and always knows what to do in any situation.”
Cameron became prolific on Facebook Live during the last year of his life, which has become a gift for the Lamb family — especially his mother and children.
But it’s hard to know there are no more memories to make with their father.
“I try not to think about it that much,” Cincere said.
But in each other, they see glimpses of their dad.
“He (my dad) was a big Chiefs fan,” Cameron Jr. said. “He loved football. He played football his whole life and he loved working on cars, like he loved his cars.”
Cincere gets just as fired up about the Chiefs.
“He acts like my daddy when the Chiefs score,” Cameron Jr. said. “When they start scoring, he jumps and yells. It’s funny.”
Cameron certainly would have every reason to be proud.
“We do know that life does go on and, like I said, we will look at the pictures and it will be a void to us because he is not there,” Bey said. “But it’s so refreshing to know that I have two out of three of his grandkids in the photos with us. And that’s everything, because my grandkids were everything to their dad.”
DeValkenaere was convicted of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in Cameron Lamb's death. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but Mike Kehoe, the governor-elect of Missouri, has strongly suggested that he plans to grant the former KCPD detective clemency.
KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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