KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cameron Lamb died after being shot in December by a Kansas City, Missouri, police detective as he backed his truck into a garage in the 4100 block of College Avenue.
Six months later, a grand jury indictment resulted in two felony charges against KCPD Officer Eric DeValkenaere, one count each of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.
The indictment, which was handed down Thursday, details more than 80 pieces of evidence and more than 80 interviews which underpin the charges.
"Based on the review of the evidence, we have probable cause to believe that Eric DeValkenaere recklessly caused the death of Cameron Lamb during the December 3, 2019 shooting," according to court records.
One piece of evidence the grand jury didn't see was a probable cause statement regarding the incident from KCPD.
The police department's policy has been to refuse to provide prosecutors with probable cause statements in cases involving possible officer misconduct, a tactic Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker decried in mid-May and again Thursday at a press conference to announce charges against DeValkenaere connected to Lamb's death.
"To be clear, we were stymied by this decision to refuse to provide that necessary document so I could charge a case," Baker said.
She later added, "They (KCPD) didn’t believe a crime occurred."
DeValkenaere is due in court June 23.
KCPD sent a statement Friday to 41 Action News about its procedures for incidents involving its officers and corresponding investigations:
"In any investigation, officers make the initial reports at an incident. Then detectives conduct interviews of victims, suspects and witnesses and gather evidence like videos and forensic evidence. That is all compiled into a case file. If probable cause exists for arrest, they write a probable cause statement. This is a synopsis of the facts — written under oath — attesting that a crime was committed."
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas said more transparency is necessary, especially in light of national protests and a national conversation about law enforcement reform since George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.
"All officer involved shootings will be reviewed by an outside agency," Lucas said. "Every one, even in the situations when it appears the officers' conduct is justified."
That change in policy was tested last week when a KCPD officer shot and killed an armed carjacking suspect during a foot pursuit. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is handling that investigation.
Baker said she appreciates the role of a grand jury, but expressed frustration at the timeline required to being charges in Lamb's case.
"Trust me, when I tell you that I wanted to stand at a podium in February," she said. "I couldn’t do that because police simply refused to give me a probable cause statement in this case."
