After the wrongful death at the hands of a KC police detective, the KCPD will pay Cameron Lamb’s family millions. However, neither the police department nor the former detective will admit wrongdoing.
A federal judge approved a $4.1 million settlement Tuesday between Kansas City police and the family of Cameron Lamb, ending a multi-year civil lawsuit over the Black man’s death at the hands of a White officer who entered his property without a warrant.
U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips signed the order finalizing the settlement without requiring police to admit fault in the 2019 killing that strained relations between Kansas City’s Black community and law enforcement.
“The parties in this lawsuit, without any admission of liability or fault in any way by any party, and in recognition of the cost and unpredictability of litigation, desire to compromise and settle all claims,” Phillips wrote in the order.
The settlement marks another chapter in a case that made history when former detective Eric DeValkenaere became the first Kansas City officer convicted of killing a Black man.
DeValkenaere served only one year of his six-year sentence before then-Governor Mike Parson commuted his sentencet in December.
Last September, Judge Phillips ruled DeValkenaere wasn’t entitled to qualified immunity because he violated Lamb’s constitutional rights. This ruling cleared the way for the civil settlement.
“DeValkenaere accessed the property via means not accessible to the public, in that he bypassed and removed barricades intended to prevent people from coming into the backyard,” Phillips wrote in that decision.
The civil lawsuit, initially seeking more than $10 million, came after DeValkenaere’s 2021 criminal conviction for involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in Lamb’s death.
DeValkenaere killed the 26-year-old Lamb on December 3, 2019. The plain-clothed detective and his partner entered Lamb’s backyard without a warrant, knocking over a grill and car hood as Lamb backed his truck into the garage.
Within seconds, DeValkenaere shot Lamb through the windshield. Though police claimed Lamb had a gun, prosecutors argued the crime scene was tampered with and evidence was planted.
David Smith, attorney for Lamb’s mother Laurie Bey, told the Kansas City Star the family was pleased to end the litigation but remains haunted by their loss.
“The family is ever mindful that they needlessly lost their loved one and that this money would never, ever, ever bring him back,” Smith said. “What this family needs is Cameron Lamb alive and in their presence.”
The settlement provides for Lamb’s mother, his minor children, and their mothers. The court approved trusts established to manage the funds for Lamb’s children, with professional trustees overseeing the accounts.
According to court documents, Bobby Lamb, Cameron’s father who wasn’t a party to the lawsuit, will also receive a portion of the settlement.
The settlement approval comes nearly five years after Lamb’s death sparked protests and calls for accountability in Kansas City’s policing. His legal case files were donated to the Black Archives of Mid-America last October, preserving them as historical documentation of the landmark conviction.
Throughout every stage of the legal process, courts consistently ruled the officers had no legal right to enter Lamb’s property. Even as DeValkenaere walks free after his commutation, the settlement acknowledges the toll on a family forever changed by nine fateful seconds in Lamb’s KC backyard.
