Paramedics Found Guilty In Death Of Elijah McClain Following Ketamine Injection
In a landmark verdict, paramedics are held accountable for the tragic demise of Elijah McClain, whose life was cut short after a fateful ketamine injection.
A Colorado jury delivered a verdict on Friday, declaring two paramedics guilty of “criminally negligent homicide” in connection with the tragic death of Elijah McClain in Aurora near his home. The 23-year-old Black man, walking home in 2019, encountered police officers who forcibly restrained him, leading to the injection of ketamine by Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec.
Within minutes, he experienced cardiac arrest in an ambulance and passed away three days later.
Both Cooper and Cichuniec faced convictions for criminally negligent homicide. Cooper, however, was acquitted of second-degree assault charges, while Cichuniec was found guilty of “second-degree assault- unlawful administration of drugs” and not guilty on the other second-degree assault charge.
Following the verdict, Cichuniec was promptly taken into custody.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser expressed satisfaction with the outcome, acknowledging the difficulty of prosecuting such cases. “We remain confident that bringing these cases forward was the right thing to do for Justice For Elijah McClain. His life mattered. He should be with us here today,” said Weiser.
McClain family spokesperson MiDian Holmes shared, “I watched as the prosecution delivered the truth about what happened to Elijah in 2019. The truth is now real and available for the people.”
During the trial, Holmes stood alongside Weiser, joined by McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, exiting the courthouse after the verdict. Sheneen raised her fist in the air in honor of her son Elijah.
“Elijah McClain’s name was and always will be Elijah McClain. We love you, Elijah McClain,” declared Holmes.
The Adams County coroner’s office was unable to determine McClain’s cause of death initially. However, heightened attention from social justice protests led to a medical examiner’s determination in 2021 that he died from complications of ketamine following forcible restraint. This prompted the indictment of three police officers and the two paramedics.
Throughout the trial, scrutiny focused on the use of the sedative injected by Cooper and Cichuniec, along with the dosage. In 2018, Colorado state regulators approved ketamine for agitated individuals displaying signs of excited delirium. The defense argued that McClain’s behavior warranted the use of ketamine, emphasizing they were following their training.
Cooper and Cichuniec asserted they were repeatedly informed during their medical training that ketamine was a safe and effective drug, with no warnings about its potential lethality.
“We were taught that it is a safe drug and it will not kill them,” emphasized Cichuniec during his defense testimony.
Cooper, a key witness in the trial, and both paramedics testified that the officers did not fully communicate McClain’s condition upon their arrival at the scene of the encounter. One paramedic noted the urgency to attend to McClain after witnessing him being forcefully brought down by the police, yet they were not informed about the neck hold applied to McClain.
When questioned by prosecutors during their testimony, they were asked about their medical training guidelines regarding the administration of ketamine to an agitated person displaying excited delirium. Ketamine dosage is weight-dependent, and the administered amount was calculated for a person exceeding 200 pounds. Cooper estimated McClain’s weight at around 200 pounds, but in reality, he weighed closer to 140 pounds.
Cichuniec defended the decision to administer the maximum dose of ketamine, citing McClain’s agitated state and asserting it was an attempt to save his life.
“In this case, with excited delirium, it could kill you,” testified Cichuniec. “If we don’t work fast, he could die. … Time is of the essence. I went off training and went up to 500 (milligrams).”
The controversial nature of excited delirium as a medical condition was acknowledged, with Cichuniec’s attorney, David Goddard, deeming it “entirely reasonable” for paramedics to believe McClain was experiencing it based on police descriptions and the struggle witnessed.
The prosecution questioned the paramedics for not engaging McClain in any dialogue before administering ketamine. Cooper explained that he refrained from doing so to avoid escalating the situation.
During the closing arguments, Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson emphasized the paramedics’ failure to perform basic medical checks on McClain, such as taking his pulse, before administering ketamine.
“There was no justification not to assess Mr. McClain. There was no justification to give someone who was not moving a sedative,” Stevenson asserted. “The defendants knew the risk of giving an overdose of ketamine.”
The rarity of medical first responders facing criminal charges was highlighted.
This marked the conclusion of the trial for the five first responders charged in McClain’s death. Three Aurora Police Department officers were tried, with two acquitted and one found guilty. Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, while Jason Rosenblatt was acquitted of manslaughter and assault in October. Roedema’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5 at 1:30 p.m. in Adams County Court.
Nathan Woodyard, another officer, was found not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide and has since returned to the Aurora Police Department.
In 2021, the City of Aurora agreed to a $15 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by McClain’s parents.
On Friday night, the Chief of Aurora Fire Rescue released the following statement:
We will not have any further comment. On behalf of all the members of Aurora Fire Rescue, I’d like to first express my deepest condolences to Elijah McClain’s family for their tragic loss in August 2019.
I am deeply concerned and disappointed that our medics, Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper, have both been convicted of Criminally Negligent Homicide in the trial stemming from the death of Mr. McClain. Both have been convicted of Criminally Negligent Homicide. Mr. Cichuniec also has been convicted of Assault 2 — Unlawful Administration of Drugs with a Crime of Violence Enhancer. On the count of Assault in the Second Degree, Mr. Cooper was acquitted.
While I appreciate the jury’s diligence, integrity and public service to ensure a fair trial, I am discouraged that these paramedics have received felony punishment for following their training and protocols in place at the time and for making discretionary decisions while taking split-second action in a dynamic environment.
The community has asked for true pathways to accountability, transparency and justice to ensure incidents like this don’t happen in the future. We are committed to continuous improvement in our organization. In full transparency and accountability, AFR has taken specific action to make critical changes in how we operate to protect our community and our members. Since this tragic incident, AFR has implemented numerous changes to policies, protocols, and training. Among other changes, we have:
- Re-established a medical branch within our department to enhance oversight of our emergency medical procedures and incidents.
- Implemented protocols to clarify who is in charge when multiple agencies are on the scene.
- Required 100% quality-assurance review on all sedative administration and strict adherence to this new protocol.
- Implemented new citywide protocols to dispatch the appropriate level of care to each call received by Aurora911.
- Greatly increased our communication and coordination with community groups and Aurora residents to gain more input on how AFR can better serve them.
As Fire Chief overseeing Aurora Fire Rescue, I take responsibility for the safekeeping of our community and our team of professionals that serve them.
Following the ruling, the International Association of Fire Fighters published a statement.
“Today’s verdicts against Fire Fighter/Paramedic Jeremy Cooper and Captain Pete Cichuniec only compound this tragedy. Colorado Attorney General Weiser’s decision to criminalize split-second medical decisions sets a dangerous, chilling precedent for pre-hospital care in our country. There are far-reaching consequences we will address at a more appropriate time. But when politics drive prosecution — forcing firefighters and paramedics to second-guess decisions — public safety is compromised.”
— Edward A. Kelly, General President, International Association of Fire Fighters
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