*UPDATE 1/25/2021*: Lacambra Released After Serving Only Five Years of Ten-Year Sentence. A detailed update is posted below and included in the “updates” section. 

1/25/2021

Dear Friends,

First and foremost, we hope that you and your families are safe and healthy as we continue to navigate our current health situation.

We write to you today with devastating news: the man who killed Amelia has been released from prison. He spent a total of four years and eight months incarcerated.

His release comes after twice being denied parole, in 2018 and in 2020. In 2020, the parole board ruled Lacambra to “serve out” his sentence. Although ruled to serve out, he was released under the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Mandatory Re-Entry Supervision program on January 14th, 2021.

His early release is due to a combination of factors outside the control of the parole board. At the December 2017 trial, Lacambra was convicted of Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class C felony. Class C felonies are considered “non-violent” offenses and carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. “Violent Offenders” are strictly defined by the Commonwealth and do not include any Class C felonies, including the charge of which Lacambra was convicted (KRS 439.3401).

Additionally, that ten-year sentence was effectively reduced to five years due to a combination of time credits available (KRS 197.045) and the Mandatory Reentry Supervision (MRS) program (KRS 439.3406). The MRS program functions as parole for a period of eight months. After that period of time, the sentence will be considered complete.

We cannot change the outcome of the trial. We cannot bring Amelia back. But we can continuously work to provide support for victims and encourage our legal system to better protect victims. As tragic as Amelia’s story is, she is not alone. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. (https://www.ncadv.org/statistics

If you are someone you know is in need of help, please visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline at thehotline.org. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

We are incredibly grateful for your signatures and support, which had an incredible impact with the parole board. As parole can no longer be denied, we will be closing the petition.

Please continue to pray for the safety of Amelia's family and for her son, Luke. On behalf of Amelia’s family and friends, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making your voices heard. Thank you.

In Solidarity,

The Mary Byron Project

 

ORIGINAL 2018 POST

*Besides a date change, the below body of the petition remains unchanged from the original 2018 posting.*

On April 24th, 2016, Amelia Forsting (Lacambra) was shot and killed by her husband, Damien Lacambra. The gun was 4 to 6 inches away from her head. Her one month old son, Luke, was nearby and witnessed Amelia's killing. He only had his mother for 46 days.

The murder trial took place from December 4th to 8th, 2017. During the trial, Amelia’s friends and family had to listen in horror while the details of the crime were presented. The prosecutors detailed how Damien was a trained weapons expert in the US Army who loves guns. He is shown as a patterned liar in matters large and small; proudly displaying stickers on his car stating “Afghanistan: I served” despite never being deployed overseas. Multiple people at the trial testified about his anger and jealousy issues. The Commonwealth of Kentucky's gun expert testified that the weapon could not have malfunctioned and that the trigger was intentionally pulled. The lead investigator of the case testified that he believed this was an intentional murder.

Damien’s explanation for what happened that day changed multiple times. At first, in his 911 call, he said he had an accidental discharge while removing his gun from the holster. Later, he changed the story to say the gun went off when he was trying to unload the gun. Later that day, after being questioned by LMPD detectives, he said that it was only a joke; he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger to get a reaction out of her, telling detectives that he thought it was unloaded.

Amelia is not able to tell her side of the story. Her one month old son, Luke, will fortunately not remember that horrible day. However, the abundance of evidence presented told her story and was more than sufficient to convict Mr. Lacambra of murder. Amelia’s family and friends were confident that their loved one’s killer would remain behind bars for at least the next 25 years.

However, the jury—in ignorance of the evidence presented—returned a verdict of not guilty for the charge of murder. Instead, they sentenced him guilty to the charge of manslaughter in the second degree.

In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, this is a Class C felony that carries a maximum 10-year sentence. In addition, offenders are considered “non-violent” and eligible for parole after serving only 20% of their sentence. This means that this man, who shot and killed his wife, is considered non-violent by the state and may be released from prison only two years after his crime. His parole date is set for April 3rd, 2018—almost two weeks from today. (*UPDATE 1/25/2021*: Although denied parole twice, Lacambra was released from prison on January 14th, 2021).

As friends, family, and concerned members of the public, we petition the Kentucky Parole Board to deny parole to Damien Lacambra, inmate 296119. We are horrified by what this man did and live in fear that he will hurt Amelia’s family, her friends, and her son Luke. He is a danger to not only those who knew Amelia, but all members of the public as well.

We, as signers of this petition, represent concerned members of the public and ask the Kentucky Parole Board to deny parole to this man. We cannot retry the case, but we can demonstrate that we, as citizens, are horrified by the crime and concerned about what may happen when the killer is released. We thank the Kentucky Parole Board for considering our concerns and urge you to deny parole for this killer. Thank you.

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This petition is authored by The Mary Byron Project on behalf of Amelia's family and friends. Learn more at marybyronproject.org.