A former Colorado paramedic has been sentenced to five years in prison in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain after he was stopped by Aurora police.
Peter Cichuniec was one of two paramedics convicted of criminally negligent homicide for their roles in the 23-year-old’s death, which sparked years of protests and changes in the law. A jury also found Cichuniec guilty of second-degree assault. The outcome marks an extremely rare instance of a paramedic being found criminally liable and facing a prison sentence for a death in police custody.
Colorado prosecutors filed charges against Cichuniec, paramedic Jeremy Cooper and three police officers, with cases that dragged on for years. Cichuniec and Cooper were responsible for injecting McClain with a dangerous dose of ketamine, a powerful sedative, as officers held him down.
On 24 August 2019, McClain, a massage therapist, was walking home from the store listening to music on his headphones when a passing driver called 911 to report a “sketchy” person who “might be a good person or a bad person”. The caller noted he did not see any weapons and did not believe anyone was in danger.
Nathan Woodyard, the first officer to stop McClain, was immediately aggressive and grabbed him, saying he was “being suspicious”. Two other officers, Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt, soon arrived and tackled McClain to the ground, placing him in a neck hold and putting their body weight on him, causing him to go in and out of consciousness.
McClain, an animal lover who had taught himself violin, apologized, repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” and also said, “I’m an introvert … Why are you attacking me? I don’t even kill flies.”
Cichuniec ordered ketamine from the ambulance and Cooper injected McClain with 500mg, even though 325mg would have been the appropriate dose for someone of his weight, prosecutors said.
McClain showed signs of overdose following the dosage and never awoke.
Rosenblatt and Woodyard were acquitted in their trials. Woodyard was reinstated to the force in November and received more than $400,000 in back wages and other payments from the city, then resigned in January. Roedema, convicted of criminally negligent homicide, was sentenced to 14 months. Cooper’s sentencing is scheduled for April.
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