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