Two of the three people convicted in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain have had their convictions overturned. The paramedics who forcibly injected McClain with ketamine now face the prospect of a new trial in the case that drew protests concerning the detention and drugging of a man who was ultimately killed on his way home.
Judge tosses paramedics’ convictions, sends case back for new trial
On Thursday, a Colorado court vacated the negligent homicide convictions against paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, who had been found guilty of administering a lethal dose of the sedative ketamine to McClain as the man was being restrained by police. The appeals court ruled that the jury had been given improper instructions concerning the homicide case against the two paramedics.
Cooper had been sentenced to 14 months in jail, with work release, and probation, while Cichuniec, who was also convicted of assault against McClain, had been sentenced to five years in prison, though he was later released after a judge reduced his sentence. Thursday’s ruling sends the homicide cases against Cooper and Cichuniec back for a new trial; Cichuniec’s assault conviction remains in place.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defended the case against the paramedics, saying in a statement, “Bringing these cases to trial was the right thing to do for justice, for Elijah McClain, and for healing in the Aurora community.” Weiser pledged that “the attorney general’s office is committed to defending these convictions through the appeals process.”
McClain detained, choked, drugged while walking home
As Blavity previously reported, in 2019, Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store in Aurora, Colorado, and wearing a ski mask when he was stopped by police who were responding to a report of a suspicious individual. The officers attempted to arrest McClain, who was 23 at the time. McClain, who expressed confusion at being detained, was placed in a chokehold by police.
“I can’t breathe. I have my ID right here. My name is Elijah McClain. That’s my house. I was just going home,” were among McClain’s last words.
“I’m an introvert. I’m just different. That’s all. I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why are you attacking me,” he said during the encounter.
Paramedics who arrived at the scene involuntarily injected him with ketamine in an effort to pacify him; McClain lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. Seven days later, he was declared brain dead and taken off life support.
Prior to the trial of the two paramedics, Aurora Police Officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault for his role in the incident, while another officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted.
McClain’s case highlighted violence against Black men, controversial use of ketamine
McClain’s case was one of many involving Black men killed in encounters with police that galvanized protests. McClain’s plea, “I can’t breathe,” echoed the last words of Eric Garner before he died in a police chokehold in 2014 and were again uttered by George Floyd before he died at the hands of police who pinned him to the ground in 2020.
Authorities initially declined to pursue criminal charges against the officers and paramedics who choked and drugged McClain but eventually did so after massive public outcry, including a petition for a more thorough investigation that gathered over 2 million signatures.
In addition to the criminal convictions, the city of Aurora agreed to a $15 million wrongful death settlement with McClain’s family, the largest such police settlement in Colorado’s history.
The case also drew attention to the controversial use of ketamine to involuntarily sedate individuals being detained by police; the potentially lethal sedative was again brought into the public eye when Friends actor Matthew Perry died from an overdose of the drug. The city of Aurora banned the use of ketamine in police stops after McClain was killed.
The discontinued use of ketamine against suspects represents the impact of the public outrage over McClain’s killing. Now, two of the people convicted of killing the unarmed Black man on his way home have, for now at least, had their convictions overturned. It remains to be seen how justice will ultimately be administered for McClain’s family and for all those impacted by his tragic and unnecessary death.