Aurora Police and Paramedics Charged with Homicide in Death of Elijah McClain

*A Colorado grand jury has indicted the officers and paramedics involved in the death of Elijah McClain.The charges include manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

The 23-year-old had been walking from a local convenience store when he was confronted by three white officers in August 2019. He reportedly explained that he was on his way home, but they accused him of acting strange, placed him in a chokehold, and pinned him to the ground.

McClain started vomiting and told the officers he was having difficulty breathing. He lost consciousness for 15 minutes and the officers called for assistance. Firefighters and an ambulance responded to the scene and pumped McClain with 500 milligrams of the drug ketamine in an attempt to sedate him, claiming he was in an agitated state.

READ MORE: Independent Investigation Says Aurora Police Had No Legal Reason to Stop, Restrain Elijah McClain

McClain suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brain dead three days later. He was removed from life support on August 30, 2019.

Here’s more from CBS: 

A grand jury has returned a 32-count indictment against officers and paramedics involved in the death of Elijah McClain, Colorado’s attorney general announced Wednesday. 

Two Aurora police officers, Nathan Woodyard and Randy Roedema, former police officer Jason Rosenblatt and Aurora Fire and Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lieutenant Peter Cichuniec have been charged with one count each of manslaughter and one count each of criminally negligent homicide. Two of the officers face additional assault and crime of violence counts, and the two paramedics also face assault counts, in addition to counts of recklessly causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon — the sedative ketamine. 

In addition, the paramedics face assault counts related to “intentionally causing stupor, unconsciousness, or other physical or mental impairment or injury” by administering ketamine to McClain without consent, for a purpose other than lawful medical treatment.

“Nothing will bring back my son, but I am thankful that his killers will finally be held accountable,” McClain’s father LaWayne Mosely said in a statement released to the Denver Post through his attorney, Mari Newman.  

The results of an independent investigation released earlier this year found that Aurora police had no legal reason to stop and physically restrain Elijah during the 2019 confrontation that resulted in his death.

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