A jury in Colorado found two paramedics guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain, the Black man who died after being pinned by police and injected with the sedative ketamine.
Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were indicted in September 2021 over the 23-year-old’s death. Also charged were three police officers—two of whom were acquitted.
The officers tackled McClain to the ground and put him in a carotid hold, restricting blood flow to his brain. He had been buying his brother an ice tea at the time and was wearing a ski mask due to his anemia, his family later said.
Prosecutors later argued the paramedics acted negligently when they injected McClain with the ketamine—an assessment the jury agreed with in the verdicts handed down on Friday.
An amended autopsy report found that McClain died of “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.”
His death sparked renewed outrage over police conduct and prompted scrutiny of the county police department, which state Attorney General Phil Weiser later found had a pattern of racially biased policing.
Colorado Police Officer Nathan Woodyard was acquitted last month, as was ex-officer Jason Rosenblatt. Officer Randy Roedema was convicted of third-degree assault and criminally negligent homicide.
The city of Aurora paid $15 million to the family of McClain—the largest police settlement in Colorado state history.
