Family of Elijah McClain
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The two paramedics who were convicted of negligent homicide in Elijah McClain’s death will face new trials following a Colorado Court of Appeals reversal.
The Court of Appeals released the decision on June 4, following an appeal filed by Jeremy Cooper, one of the Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics who was initially charged and later convicted in the August 2019 death of 23-year-old McClain. Peter Cichuniec, another paramedic who was convicted of the same charges, will also be retried.
“We conclude that the district court erred by failing to properly instruct the jury on the standard of care applicable to the criminally negligent homicide charge and that the error wasn’t harmless,” the Thursday letter read.
Both men were initially tried in the 17th Judicial District court in 2023 by the Colorado Attorney General’s office. Cichuniec was found guilty of second-degree assault for administering drugs without consent and negligent homicide. Cooper was found not guilty of the second-degree assault charge, but was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
McClain had been walking home from a convenience store when three Aurora Police Department officers confronted him for being “suspicious.” After tackling and holding McClain on the ground, the paramedics called to the scene injected him with ketamine. He was later declared brain dead and taken off life support several days later.
No one was charged initially, but after a staggering amount of protests and a $15 million civil case against the city, Gov. Jared Polis appointed Attorney General Phil Weiser to reopen the investigation.
Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024. Later that year, the prison sentence was vacated and moved to probation. The appeals letter said the second-degree assault conviction is affirmed, but the negligent homicide is not.
Cooper was sentenced to four years’ probation, 14 months work release and 100 hours of community service in April 2024.
Medical licenses to continue their work as paramedics would have been revoked following felony convictions.
The three police officers on the scene were also tried, with two being acquitted and APD officer Randy Roedema being found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. Roedema was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work release and four years of probation.
In a statement shortly after the appeal decision dropped, Weiser condemned McClain’s death and defended the original convications.
“A jury convicted two paramedics for the death of Elijah McClain, an innocent Black man who did nothing wrong that tragic night seven years ago,” Weiser said. “Bringing these cases to trial was the right thing to do for justice, for Elijah McClain, and for healing in the Aurora community. The attorney general’s office is committed to defending these convictions through the appeals process. Justice demands it.”
