KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office now has a clemency packet advocating for him to pardon former Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere.
Last week, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld DeValkenaere’s conviction for shooting and killing Cameron Lamb in 2019.
DeValkenaere’s attorney is once again planning to appeal the appellate court’s decision and asked for judges to reinstate his bond so he can remain free pending requests.
Meanwhile, DeValkenaere’s wife Sarah told Kansas City talk radio 95.7 KCMO she hasn’t talked to Parson directly, but both she and the governor’s office confirmed the request for clemency is in his office.
The judge who convicted DeValkenaere two years ago said he violated Lamb’s Fourth Amendment rights because he went on his property without a warrant or probable cause.
Despite that, Sarah DeValkenaere believes there’s been an injustice in this case, pointing to what she said are inconsistencies with the prosecution’s case.
With her husband currently behind bars, now she said she just wants her husband home.
“Please just keep calling,” she said on KCMO. “He does not deserve to spend one more night in jail. We are getting ready to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary here, and you know, it’s coming up really quick and he deserves to be home with me, and he deserves to be home with our kids.”
DeValkenaere is currently being held in a private area in the Platte County Jail. His wife hopes the governor will side with the former KCPD detective.
“I know he’s a former law enforcement officer himself,” Sarah DeValkenaere said. “I know he has firsthand knowledge of how hard these men and women work each day and how sometimes they’re put into life-and-death situations where they have to make quick decisions.”
Meanwhile, Lamb’s family is pleading with Parson to not pardon the ex-detective. Several community leaders are also joining the calls to keep DeValkenaere behind bars.
“Gov. Parson – Cameron Lamb was my one and only son. He was a son that was loved by all that knew him. He was a great father to three young sons,” Lamb’s mother Laurie Bey said last week.
“This is not about supporting the police or not supporting the police. There was a trial then a conviction, and now and when the appeal process is done, we’ll see where we are,” Jackson County Executive Frank White said last week.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker also released a statement Tuesday:
“We strongly oppose. The rule of law has spoken clearly on this matter through a Jackson County Grand Jury, three separate Circuit Court judges, three separate appeals court judges and the presiding judge of the Western District Court of Appeals, who signed the arrest warrant last week.”
A spokesperson for Parson’s office said they have received hundreds of calls on DeValkenaere’s behalf, but that spokesperson said the governor has not made a decision on clemency yet.
