Killing of Elijah McClain
Elijah Jovan McClain (February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019) was a 23-year-old American Black man from Aurora, Colorado, who was killed as a result of being illegally injected with 500 mg of ketamine by paramedics after being forcibly detained by police officers. He went into cardiac arrest and died six days later in the hospital. He had been walking home from a convenience store. Three police officers and two paramedics were charged with his death. Both paramedics and one of the officers were convicted of negligent homicide. The other two officers were acquitted of all charges.
| Killing of Elijah McClain | |
|---|---|
Elijah McClain in an undated photo | |
| Location | Aurora, Colorado, U.S. |
| Date | August 24, 2019 |
Attack type | Manslaughter by unlawful administration of drugs, assault, police brutality |
| Weapon | Illegal 500 mg injection of ketamine |
| Victim | Elijah Jovan McClain, aged 23 (died 6 days later) |
| Perpetrators |
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| Accused |
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| Trial | Roedema and Rosenblatt: September to October 2023 Woodyard: November 2023 Cooper and Cichuniec: December 2023 |
| Verdict | Roedema, Cooper, Cichuniec: Guilty on the lesser included offense of negligent homicide Roedema: Guilty of third-degree assault Rosenblatt and Woodyard: Not guilty on all counts Cooper: Not guilty on two counts of second-degree assault Cichuniec: Guilty of second-degree assault causing death, not guilty of second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily harm |
| Convictions | Roedema: Criminally negligent homicide, third-degree assault Cooper: Criminally negligent homicide Cichuniec: Criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault causing death |
| Charges | Manslaughter
Rosenblatt, Cooper, Cichuniec:
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| Sentence | Cichuniec: 5 years in prison Roedema: 1 year and 2 months in jail |
| Litigation | Civil rights lawsuit resulting in $15 million settlement |
On August 24, 2019, three Aurora Police officers confronted McClain after responding to a call by an Aurora civilian about an unarmed person wearing a ski mask that looked "sketchy". The three police officers who were involved in the incident, Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema, all said that their body cameras were knocked off during a struggle with McClain. McClain was forcibly held to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, after which Woodyard twice applied a choke hold. Upon arrival paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec administered ketamine, later determined to be in excess of a therapeutic dosage, to McClain to sedate him. While on scene McClain went into cardiac arrest. Three days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead, and was removed from life support on August 30.
McClain's initial autopsy was inconclusive and the cause of death was listed as undetermined. Aurora Police officers met with the coroner before his announcement, and police investigators were also present during the autopsy. As a result of a lawsuit by several news agencies, an amended autopsy report was released in September 2022 that listed the cause of death as "complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint".
On June 24, 2020, after massive protests in Denver and Aurora, and lawmakers' requests for a new, third-party investigation into McClain's death, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced his administration would reexamine the case. Five days later, photos were discovered that were taken in October 2019 and showed officers posing inappropriately and reenacting the carotid restraint used on McClain, taken at the site where he had been assaulted and killed. One officer, Jaron Jones, resigned and three, Erica Marrero, Kyle Dittrich and Jason Rosenblatt were fired.
In February 2021, an investigative report ordered by the City Council was released. The report said that the police officers involved in McClain's death did not have the legal basis to stop, restrain, or frisk him. The report questioned the police officers' statements, criticized the medical responders' decision to inject McClain with a sedative, and admonished the police department for failing to do a serious questioning of the officers following McClain's death. In September 2021, the three police officers (Woodyard, Rosenblatt and Roedema) and two paramedics (Cooper and Cichuniec) were arrested and charged through a Colorado grand jury with manslaughter and other lesser charges for the death of Elijah McClain.
On October 12, 2023, Roedema was found guilty on charges of criminally negligent homicide and assault, while Rosenblatt was acquitted of all charges against him, including reckless manslaughter and assault. Roedema was sentenced on January 5, 2024, by District Judge Mark Warner to 14-months at the Adams County Jail in Brighton, Colorado, with the possibility of work-release, plus 200 hours of community service.
Another trial prosecuting Nathan Woodyard began on Tuesday, October 17th. Woodyard was found not guilty on Monday, November 6. A third trial, that of paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, began on November 29.
On December 22, 2023, the two paramedics involved in McClain's death were found guilty of negligent homicide by a Colorado jury, which found that Peter Cichuniec's unlawful administration of drugs to McClain was a key factor in causing his death.
On March 1, 2024, Cichuniec was given the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, while Cooper faces up to six years in prison.