Two paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty on Friday of criminally negligent homicide as per the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
According to CNN, Cichuniec was also found guilty of a second-degree unlawful administration of drugs assault charge.
McClain was walking home on the evening of Aug. 30th, 2019, when several Aurora, Colorado police officers who’d received a call about a suspicious man in a ski mask tried to stop him.
Instead of complying, McClain kept walking and started demanding the officers leave him alone. Long story short, he had to be forcefully detained. Once detained, he became very hyper and started throwing up, prompting the two paramedics to dose him with 500 mg of ketamine.
Shortly thereafter, McClain’s heart stopped beating. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital slightly later that evening.
Watch bodycam footage of the altercation below:
An autopsy later released in 2022 listed McClain’s cause of death as “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.”
During their trial, Cooper and Cichuniec testified that they’d simply been following the required regimen when dealing with patients experiencing “excited delirium.”
“During our training, we were told numerous times that this is a safe, effective drug,” Cichuniec said. “That is the only drug we can carry that can stop what is going on and calm him down so we can control his airway, we can control him and the safety of him, get him to the hospital as quick as we can.”
Despite this solid defense, the two paramedics were convicted on Friday of criminally negligent homicide.
“We are satisfied with today’s verdicts, and we are confident that bringing these cases to trial was the right thing to do for justice, for Elijah McClain, and for healing in the Aurora community,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement following the verdict.
“We must continue our work to improve policing and emergency response and build trust between law enforcement, first responders, and the people they are sworn to protect,” he added.
Attorney General Phil Weiser’s statement on the guilty verdicts in the trial of the paramedics charged with the death of Elijah McClain. pic.twitter.com/oz0BHSyzpY
— Colorado Attorney General (@COAttnyGeneral) December 23, 2023
CNN notes that the three officers who subdued McClain also faced trials: “Officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and assault and subsequently fired by the department, while officers Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard were acquitted of all charges.”
During their trials, their defense attorneys blamed McClain’s death on the paramedics. It appears they had a valid point.
While testifying in their cases, Cichuniec and Cooper admitted that they’d overestimated McClain’s weight at 200 pounds. In reality, he’d only weighed 143 pounds.
But there’s more.
“During cross-examination by prosecutors, Cichuniec agreed the correct dosage for his estimation of McClain’s body weight should have been 425 milligrams, but he rounded up to 500 milligrams because McClain was exhibiting extra agitation,” CNN notes.
“Prosecutors then showed the court there was nothing in Cichuniec’s previous ketamine training stating increased dosage should be administered because of higher levels of agitation in a patient,” according to CNN.
Prosecutors also proved that the paramedics’ training had included “warnings of increased side effects and risks, including respiratory depression, if an overdose of ketamine was given.”
During Cooper’s testimony, senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber asked him why he’d never asked McClain simple questions such as “what’s your name,” “what’s your weight,” etc.
Cooper replied by claiming McClain had been speaking incoherently and that he personally had been trying to de-escalate the confrontation.
“I was trying to administer care, to take care of Elijah, to get him to the hospital safely,” he said.
Elijah McClain’s mom Sheneen says her sons name outside the Adams County Courthouse after the guilty verdicts were read for paramedics Cooper and Cichuniec pic.twitter.com/UfkrgKcNeS
— Michael Abeyta (@AbeytaCBS4) December 23, 2023
After the paramedics testified, prosecutors then called in a witness to testify: Dr. Roger Mitchell, a forensic pathologist.
“He testified McClain showed signs of having a deficiency in oxygen, or hypoxia, but there was ‘no evidence of excited delirium.’ Mitchell said McClain needed oxygen and fluids, as well as a physical examination before he was injected with ketamine,” according to CNN.
“If that was done, then I don’t believe that the ketamine would have been given,” Mitchell testified.
During closing arguments, Cichuniec’s attorney reportedly argued that the prosecution had “not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that these gentlemen are responsible for the death of Elijah McClain — or that these gentlemen did anything to assault or give him ketamine for any other purpose than trying to treat him with a reason to believe was excited delirium.”
In response, the prosecution maintained that the two paramedics had treated McClain like he was a “problem” versus a patient.
“This is reckless … It’s intending to cause pain – bodily injury and stupor,” Slothouber said. “It’s not intending to kill, but it is wildly, insanely reckless. It’s the medical equivalent of putting on a blindfold, jumping in a car and hitting the gas as hard as you can.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
- Dozens of pipe bombs found in New York apartment after neighbors reported hearing explosions - April 1, 2026
- Trump, Noem give reaction to shocking news of her husband’s cross-dressing secret life scandal - April 1, 2026
- Huge news: 65% of Fortune 500 companies have stopped participating in woke DEI system - March 31, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.