This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson late Friday commuted the sentence of former Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere, fulfilling his family's many requests for his release.
Parson, who has had his share of controversial pardons, among a list of 16 pardons and eight other commutations.
The action was long feared by the family of Cameron Lamb, the 26-year-old Black man DeValkenaere killed 鈥� as well as Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who won the conviction.
In , Baker said she had a short comment and would rather focus on caring for Lamb's family.
"DeValkenaere was convicted for killing an unarmed man. Period," Baker's statement reads. "He was shown incredible mercy by the governor. No such mercy was shown to the victims."
Baker, who first warned the governor away from the pardon in June 2023, was often asked about the possibility. On December 16, she told KCUR that any such action would send the message that some people receive special justice.
鈥淭hose decisions should never be made by government officials without speaking to victims鈥� families and frankly, the Kansas City community,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淎nd to not do that 鈥� I鈥檓 going to use a word 鈥� is cowardice.鈥�
Parson history of pardons
Melesa Johnson, who was elected Jackson County prosecutor in November, said before the commutation that a DeValkenaere pardon would be 鈥渇rustrating鈥� and 鈥渦nfortunate.鈥�
Johnson said the governor has broad pardoning powers, and said perhaps any future people in that job would consider freedom for other people, , who spent four decades in prison for a 1978 triple murder he says he did not commit and . He was released in late 2021.
Baker鈥檚 office fought hard for Strickland鈥檚 release, but Parson refused to pardon him, saying in 2021 that Strickland鈥檚 clemency application was not a priority amid a large backlog.
鈥淚 just would ask that the next administration, the next time a Kevin Strickland comes along, let鈥檚 try using our pardoning power and considering our pardoning power there instead of putting (the prosecutor鈥檚 office) through a knock-out-drag-out fight to exonerate a man that has literally given his entire life for a crime he didn鈥檛 commit,鈥� Johnson said.
This is not Parson鈥檚 first high-profile, controversial offer of clemency. On March 1, Parson of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid, son of head coach Andy Reid. The younger Reid was convicted of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that severely injured a 5-year-old girl .
In July 2021, Parson, a Republican, pardoned a St. Louis couple who had brandished weapons at Black Lives Matter activists in their upscale neighborhood. Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey, both Republicans, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and were fined. They themselves from a violent mob in June 2020 by pointing an AR-style rifle and a pistol at demonstrators marching to the mayor鈥檚 home.
Parson has in the past three years, , which is more than any Missouri governor since the 1940s.
A commutation, which shortens the length of a sentence, does not go as far as a pardon, which is an official forgiveness for a crime. A pardon would also lift restrictions on rights like gun ownership and employment opportunities.
DeValkenaere's wife, Sarah, has lead a public campaign seeking Parson's pardon. In several , she called her husband a "hero" who needs to be with his family this Christmas.
"My kids miss him terribly," she wrote, "he should be home with us for the holidays."
Courts found detective culpable
DeValkenaere, 45, was the first Kansas City police officer convicted of killing a Black man. He was involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action by Jackson County Judge Dale Youngs in November 2021. In March 2022, Youngs sentenced DeValkenaere to six years in prison.
DeValkenaere appealed, and at a in September, his lawyers said Lamb was armed 鈥� prosecutors say he was not 鈥� and that DeValkenaere feared for the safety of another officer.
In a 42-page opinion , state Appellate Court Judge Thomas Chapman said the court must view evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and DeValkenaere failed to present any evidence that Youngs鈥� earlier decision was wrong.
Lamb was killed in December 2019 after police followed him onto his property. They said he had been in a high-speed chase with another car, that he had traffic violations and he had recently harmed a woman.
The courts found that Lamb was not in possession of a gun at the time of the shooting, that DeValkenaere鈥檚 entry onto Lamb鈥檚 property was illegal and that DeValkenaere was not acting in self-defense or in defense of the other officer. In fact, Chapman wrote, the officers were 鈥渢wo uninvited men, in the backyard of a stranger, and were approaching with guns in their hands.鈥�
鈥淚n the light most favorable to the verdict, there was evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could determine that Devalkenaere shot (Lamb) at a time when (Lamb) was unarmed and not threatening force,鈥� Chapman wrote.
Local control of police long been an issue
Parsons鈥� decision is sure to reignite calls for a change in the KCPD鈥檚 relationship with the state. KCPD is the only police department in the U.S. still under state control, a vestige of the Civil War when the state seized control of the police departments in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Although Kansas City approved a home-rule ordinance in 1932, under political boss Tom Pendergast that the Missouri governor returned the department to state control under commissioners that he appointed.
The issue of local control in Missouri reached a head in 2013 when after voters approved a statewide ballot measure. That鈥檚 also the year narrowly declined to pursue moving toward local control.
In June 2023, Baker warned in a public letter that if he pardoned DeValkenaere, it could result in civil unrest and further erode the public's trust in the criminal justice system.
The issue was made even more political when Missouri Attorney General saying the conviction should be overturned. Bailey said police "are clothed with authority and privileges鈥� that 鈥渞aise important questions鈥� about DeValkenaere鈥檚 case.
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