A Colorado paramedic was sentenced to four years probation and 14 months of work release for his role in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
Jeremy Cooper was convicted in December of criminally negligent homicide and faced up to three years in prison. But Judge Mark Warner said he found Cooper to be “contrite,” dedicated to helping others, and unlikely to commit further crimes in pronouncing the sentence, NBC News said. He must also serve 100 hours of community service.
“I want you to know that I would give anything to have a different outcome, Elijah. I never meant for anyone to hurt you,” Cooper said during the sentencing hearing. “I wanted to take over your care, and I was scared. I believe you needed immediate medical attention. I wanted to calm the situation down. I wanted my presence to be enough and my skills and training to be enough. I am so sorry, collectively, that we all failed you.”
In August 2019, Aurora police officers responding to a suspicious person call detained an unarmed McClain as he walked home from a corner store, as CrimeOnline reported. During the 20-minute ordeal, officers put McClain in a carotid hold and violently restrained him with an armbar and their knees, a federal lawsuit alleged.
“Let go of me. I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking,” McClain said in the bodycam footage.
While handcuffed, a paramedic injected McClain with 500mg of ketamine, essentially an overdose for someone of McClain’s size. McClain went into cardiac arrest during the encounter and died days after being declared brain dead. Medical officials later determined the ketamine injection played a key role in his death, KMGH reported.
Prosecutors initially declined to press charges but eventually filed charges against three police officers and two paramedics. One officer and both paramedics were convicted.
Former Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced in January to 14 months in prison, work release, and four years probation. The other paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, was convicted on the same charge and sentenced in March to five years in prison.
In 2021, the city of Aurora agreed to pay McClain’s family $15 million. The multimillion-dollar settlement came months after a city’s independent report found wrongdoing in police officers’ stop and arrest of McClain. That same year, the Colorado legislature limited the use of ketamine by first responders.
