Convicted K.C. officer to be sentenced March 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A white Kansas City police detective who was convicted of shooting and killing a Black man will be sentenced March 4, a judge ruled Thursday.

Eric DeValkenaere, 43, was convicted last month of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the shooting death of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.

He faces up to four years on the manslaughter conviction and at least three years for the armed criminal action charge.

Attorney Molly Hastings said Thursday that DeValkenaere's defense team plans to appeal the conviction, The Kansas City Star reported.

DeValkenaere remains free on bond. He has been suspended from the department pending termination.

Lamb was shot Dec. 3, 2019, as he was backing a pickup truck into a garage in his backyard.

DeValkenaere testified he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective.

Prosecutors argued the scene had been staged to make it appear Lamb had a gun.

When he pronounced sentence, Jackson County Judge J. Dale Youngs 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. He did not address the allegations the crime scene was staged.