Elijah McClain Wiki – Elijah McClain Biography
An independent report found no legal basis for the stop that ended in the 23-year-old’s death. A Colorado grand jury issued a 32-count indictment against the police officers and paramedics involved in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who was filmed being placed in strangulation and injected with ketamine prior to his death.
According to the Colorado Sun, three Aurora police officers and two fire paramedics were charged in Adams County with manslaughter and criminal negligence manslaughter for McClain’s death. The accused officers are Nathan Woodyard, Jason Rosenblatt, and Randy Roedema, while the paramedics are Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec.
The Denver Post reported Roedema and Rosenblatt are also charged with second-degree assault. with the intent to cause bodily injury and violence related to the second-degree assault charge. Cooper and Cichuniec are also charged with second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury, second-degree assault for recklessly causing bodily injury by means of a deadly weapon (ketamine), second-degree assault with a purpose other than legal medical, or therapeutic. treatment for giving McClain ketamine and violence related to assault charges.
McClain was pronounced brain dead days after arresting officers allegedly strangled him and paramedics injected him with 500 mg of ketamine, general anesthesia It is generally used before and during surgery or a medical procedure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The grand jury indictment comes months after the city’s independent investigation determined that the responding officer had there is no basis to stop, search or use a choke on McClain23. In their report, the three-person panel called the stop “questionable” and stated that officers never stated what crime McClain had committed or what crime they thought he was about to commit.
In August 2019, Aurora police officers who responded to a suspicious person’s call detained McClain as he was walking home from a corner store. During the 20-minute encounter, officers placed McClain in a carotid grip and violently restrained him with one arm and knees, alleges a federal lawsuit filed by the family of the deceased.
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“Let go. I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries I’m talking about, ”McClain was heard saying in the police body camera footage.
A paramedic allegedly injected McClain with 500 mg of ketamine after he was handcuffed. The panel’s 157-page report indicated that McClain was not adequately evaluated by the paramedic before administering the sedative, and the dose was based on the “extremely inaccurate” assumption that McClain weighed 50 pounds more.
McClain, who suffered cardiac arrest during the encounter, died after being pronounced brain dead. McClain’s autopsy was inconclusive, but the federal lawsuit stated that “heavy physical exertion and a narrow left coronary artery contributed to [his] death.”
The city’s independent report also examined the Aurora Police Department’s investigation into McClain’s death. The panel wrote that the department’s Major Crimes Unit, which conducted an internal investigation, “stretched the record to exonerate” the three officers they arrested and did not conduct an objective investigation.
“Statements by officers on the scene and in subsequent taped interviews suggest a violent and relentless struggle,” the report states.
“Limited video and audio from body cameras reveal Mr. McClain surrounded by officers, all older than him, screaming in pain, apologizing, explaining and pleading with officers.”
Despite the city’s scathing report, which was released in February, District Attorney Dave Young said in November 2019 that the three Aurora police officers would not face criminal charges in connection with McClain’s death. Independent investigators claimed that the internal report was biased and influenced the decision of the 17th Judicial District Prosecutor’s Office and the Aurora Police Force Review Board to acquit the officers of wrongdoing.
However, in June 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis appointed Attorney General Phil Weiser as special counsel in the McClain case. The unprecedented move resulted in Weiser’s office opening a statewide grand jury investigation into the fatal arrest in 2019, according to the Colorado Sun.
Last year, Rosenblatt was fired for allegedly responding “haha” to a photographic message that showed his colleagues re-doing a used choke on McClain at his memorial site. The other two police officers remain in the force but have non-public functions.