KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday commuted the prison sentence of former Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere, the first Kansas City officer ever convicted of killing a Black man, an explosive decision that will infuriate residents and risk damaging the state’s relationship with the city.

Parson announced the commutation in the twilight of his time in office, offering the clemency on the Friday afternoon ahead of Christmas holiday week. The Republican governor, a former Polk County sheriff who styles himself an ally of law enforcement, had signaled in recent months that he planned to free DeValkenaere, declaring in August that “I don’t like where he’s at.”

DeValkenaere, who is white, was convicted in 2021 of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Cameron Lamb, a Black man, in December 2019. DeValkenaere shot and killed the 26-year-old as Lamb was backing his pickup truck into his garage. The shooting took place roughly nine seconds after DeValkenaere and his partner pulled up to Lamb’s residence.

DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison but remained free on bond as his criminal appeal worked through the courts. The ex-detective surrendered to authorities in October 2023 when the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld his conviction. The Missouri Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Parson didn’t immediately comment on the commutation. DeValkenaere’s name was included on a larger list of individuals who received pardons and commutations.

DeValkenaere, 46, had been serving his sentence outside of Missouri, but authorities didn’t identify where he was incarcerated. It wasn’t immediately clear whether DeValkenaere was still in prison or when he would be freed.

The act of clemency represents an extraordinary intervention by the governor into the local justice system. Kansas City has no control over its police department, one of the few state-run forces in the country, leaving the legal system as one of the few avenues for police accountability available to residents.

The commutation is expected to spark a furious backlash in Kansas City. Lamb’s family had repeatedly denounced the anticipated clemency, and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, a Democrat who prosecuted DeValkenaere, previously warned Parson that clemency “will ignite distrust, protests, and public safety concerns for citizens and for police.”

“I think it’s just so disrespectful for you to say you all want to have this man’s back who murdered an innocent man, took him from his family and his boys,” Lamb’s mother, Laurie Bey, said on Dec. 3, the fifth anniversary of Lamb’s death.

DeValkenaere and his partner, Troy Schwalm, arrived to Lamb’s home after officers in a police helicopter notified them that Lamb had allegedly been involved in a car chase. DeValkenaere shot Lamb as he was backing his pickup truck into his garage. The detective believed his partner’s life was in danger and said Lamb drew a weapon from his waistband.

But Schwalm told investigators that he did not see Lamb with a gun. Prosecutors contended that the gun found on the ground beneath Lamb’s arm, which was hanging out the window, was planted.

At a bench trial, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs found DeValkenaere guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.

The clemency isn’t the end of DeValkenaere’s legal troubles. The ex-officer still faces a federal lawsuit brought by Lamb’s family that alleges a violation of the Fourth Amendment and claims he used excessive force. The family is seeking more than $10 million in compensatory damages.

In September, a federal judge ruled DeValkenaere isn’t entitled to qualified immunity because he violated Lamb’s constitutional rights. Qualified immunity protects officers from liability most of the time and is a steep hurdle to overcome in civil lawsuits.

U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips wrote that “it was well established” that Fourth Amendment protections extend to the curtilage surrounding a home.

Lamb’s residence was fenced and shielded from view by bushes. A barbecue grill and car hood also blocked a public view of the backyard and – Phillips noted – DeValkenaere kicked the barricade over and entered the backyard.

DeValkenaere is appealing the decision.

A ‘false narrative’

Parson’s power to commute DeValkenaere’s sentence isn’t in doubt. Under the Missouri Constitution, governors have the power to delay, reduce or eliminate the punishment of state-level crimes.

Still, Parson’s decision, coming in the final weeks of his governorship, is a monumental choice that will leave a lasting impression on his legacy in government. The clemency decision is one of the most audacious in modern Missouri history – freeing an individual convicted of a violent offense who has no credible innocence claim.

But it follows recent controversial pardons at the national level that have demonstrated the willingness of chief executives to make boundary-pushing clemency decisions. During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump pardoned former associates and the father of his son-in-law. President Joe Biden in early December pardoned his son, Hunter.

Parson’s action comes after a year-long campaign by DeValkenaere’s wife, Sarah DeValkenaere, and other allies. They attacked Baker’s prosecution and described him as a “good, honorable man” who became the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

“Eric is a honest man who has integrity and he does not deserve what is happening to him,” Sarah DeValkenaere wrote in a widely circulated social media post last year.

Baker said at an event marking the anniversary of Lamb’s death that she had no regrets about prosecuting the case, even as she acknowledged that she had paid “some pretty heavy prices” for taking on the police. Baker didn’t run for reelection and will leave office in early January.

She had urged Parson to speak with Lamb’s family before granting DeValkenaere clemency. It wasn’t immediately clear if the governor had spoken with the family in the lead up to the announcement, but family members in the past have repeatedly said the governor hasn’t spoken to them.

Asked by reporters in early December whether she thinks clemency would be a miscarriage of justice, Baker replied “I do.”

“It’s based on a false narrative. The notion of why they think that needs to happen is based on a false narrative,” Baker said.

Governor’s priorities

The commutation, one of Parson’s final official acts as governor, highlighted how the governor has prioritized who receives clemency.

While Parson has cleared a backlog of hundreds of clemency requests he inherited from past administrations, the governor refused to intervene in several high-profile cases in which Black men convicted of murder had strong innocence claims, including Kevin Strickland, who was eventually freed, and Marcellus Williams, who was executed in September. Parson rejected every clemency application in a death penalty case since becoming governor, 13 in total.

At the same time, Parson granted clemency in other high-profile cases.

In 2021 Parson pardoned Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a St. Louis couple who gained notoriety after they were photographed waving guns at Black Lives Matter demonstrators outside their upscale St. Louis home. Mark McCloskey, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.

Then in March, Parson commuted the sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid, who was convicted of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that severely injured a 5-year-old girl. Parson is a staunch Chiefs fan and the decision sparked intense backlash.

Parson flirted publicly for months with the idea of freeing DeValkenaere. But the November election effectively made the ex-detective’s freedom a matter of when – not if.

Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe told reporters just after his election in November that he would ensure DeValkenaere was home from prison. At the same time, he gently nudged Parson to act before he took office in January.

“I still am hopeful and prayerful that that happens before I get into the governor’s office,” Kehoe said.

Clemency was expected

In recent days, some Kansas City-area conservatives had signaled they believed clemency was imminent.

The KCMO Talk Radio host Pete Mundo, who has championed DeValkenaere’s cause, said on Dec. 10 that he had heard that the former detective would be home for Christmas. He also suggested Parson was waiting until the weather turned cold to tamp down on the possibility of protests.

Speaking on Mundo’s show on Dec. 11, Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican, said he had spoken with Parson about DeValkenaere and that the governor, as a former sheriff, “knows firsthand what it is like to be a law enforcement officer.”

“You know, I’m a little disappointed that it’s taken as long as it has,” Luetkemeyer said. “I know this has been really hard on Eric’s family.”

As recently as early December, both Parson and his aides insisted the governor hadn’t made up his mind. In an interview with KCUR’s Up To Date, Parson said he didn’t want to mislead either the DeValkenaere family or “the victims’ families” – apparently meaning Lamb.

“You know, those are decisions I’ll decide to make,” Parson said, “and hopefully it’s going to be sooner than later, but we’ll kind of see how it goes.”

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