Missouri's governor-elect Mike Kehoe vows to free a cop convicted of killing a Black man, say reports.
Eric DeValkenaere, a white Kansas City police detective, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the 2019 death of Cameron Lamb.
At trial, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs agreed with prosecutors and said DeValkenaere did not have a search warrant or consent to be on Lamb's property when he killed him, according to The Kansas City Star.
Prosecutors also said cops staged the crime scene and planted a gun to make it appear that Lamb was armed.
In 2022, DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison.
Last year, the Missouri Supreme Court declined to review his case after the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.
But a budding friendship between the DeValkenaeres and the incoming governor might be key to the convicted killer's release after serving a little more than a year of his sentence.
"I would say Sarah [DeValkenaeres] is a very good friend of my wife and I's. I met Sarah and Eric before he was in prison, wrongly. I believe we need to have Eric's back and I've been very vocal about saying, should I succeed in being governor, Eric will be home with his family. I am still hopeful and prayerful that that happens before I get into the Governor's Office," Kehoe told WDAF-TV, last week.
The victim's family blasted the move as a "miscarriage of justice."
"Look at how many times this case has been in front of some type of judge and they mentioned that he is responsible. What does that say to us, what does that say to the community?" Aquil Bey, Lamb's father, said, according to KCTV-TV.
Earlier this week, Kehoe's office issued a statement, hinting toward the governor-elect's plans once he's sworn in.
"Any action that may be taken by Kehoe in the Governor's Office would be due to the unjust sentencing Eric received by a woke prosecutor, not their friendship," the outlet reported.
The idea of her son's killer being set free "brought tears to me," Lamb's mother, Lauire Bey, admitted, "because to me, this has been a disrespectful process, and it has been something that has been rumored for some time."
"My son was not privileged. He wouldn't have been able to say, 'Oh, well I know this family right here, so since I know this family, will you let them free?'", she continued.
Outgoing Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he is considering granting DeValkenaeres clemency before he leaves office.
