Missouri Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of ex-Kansas City detective convicted of manslaughter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday announced it will not hear an appeal from a former Missouri detective convicted in the 2019 shooting death of a Black man.

The state Supreme Court denied former Kansas City detective Eric J. DeValkenaere’s motion to hear his case. The Western District Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in September.

Messages were left with DeValkenaere’s attorney.

DeValkenaere is serving a six-year sentence for second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. He was convicted of fatally shooting Cameron Lamb in the driveway of Lamb’s home on Dec. 3, 2019.

Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office in June asked the appeals court to reverse DeValkenaere’s conviction or order a new trial. That was unusual because the attorney general’s office typically defends convictions, rather than appeals them.

A message was left with Bailey’s office.

Police said DeValkenaere, who is white, and his partner went to Lamb’s home after reports he had been chasing his girlfriend’s convertible in a stolen pickup truck. DeValkenaere said he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective.

But Judge J. Dale Youngs, who found DeValkenaere guilty in a bench trial, said the officers had no probable cause to believe any crime had been committed, had no warrant for Lamb’s arrest, and had no search warrant or consent to be on the property. Police were the initial aggressors and had a duty to retreat, the judge said.