A Jackson County, MO, judge has found Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.
Donna Drake, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said in an email that the department acknowledged the court's decision.
"Every officer involved shooting is difficult not only for the members in the community, but also the members of the police department," she said.
Jackson County prosecutors argued that DeValkenaere recklessly shot Lamb on Dec. 3, 2019, as Lamb was sitting in a pickup truck and backing into his garage.
Defense lawyers contended that DeValkenaere, a 20-year veteran of the Kansas City Police Department and a member of its Violent Offender Squad when the shooting occurred, was responding to an ongoing danger and had probable cause to enter Lamb’s property, KCUR reports.
DeValkenaere faces a minimum statutory punishment of three years on the involuntary manslaughter conviction and a minimum statutory punishment of three years on the armed criminal action conviction.
He remains free on bond pending sentencing, which Youngs said he would set at a later date.
