KANSAS CITY (AP) — The prosecution has finished presenting evidence in the trial of a white Kansas City police officer charged with fatally shooting a Black man in a case that rests on arguments that police planted evidence.
Crime scene technicians and a roommate were among the witnesses to testify Tuesday in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Eric DeValkenaere.
He also is charged with armed criminal action in the death of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb, who was parking a pickup truck in his backyard when he was shot. Officers went to Lamb's home in December 2019 while investigating a report that a pickup was seen chasing a car after a crash.
DeValkenaere said that he fired after Lamb pointed a gun at another detective, Troy Schwalm.
Prosecutors said that before he was shot, Lamb had his left hand on the truck’s steering wheel and his cellphone in his right hand.
Lamb's roommate testified that the gun found near Lamb's body was normally kept on a staircase. Crime scene technicians also testified they conducted a “cursory” examination of the body at the scene, but did not find two bullets in Lamb’s pocket until after his body was taken later to the medical examiner's office.