Colorado paramedics found guilty in death of Elijah McClain
By Brad Brooks
LONGMONT, Colorado (Reuters) -Two Colorado paramedics were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide by a jury on Friday for their role in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died after police roughly detained him, put him in a choke hold, and the medics injected him with a powerful sedative.
The trial of paramedics Jeremy Cooper, 49, and Peter Cichuniec, 51, was the last of three involving the death of McClain, 23, who was stopped by police after a bystander reported he looked suspicious. The first ended with one police officer found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and another acquitted. The second ended with a third officer being acquitted in the death of McClain, who was not alleged to have committed any crime when officers stopped him.
In a statement Saturday, McClain's mother Sheneen McClain said «three out of five convictions are not justice. The only thing the convictions serve is a very small acknowledgement of accountability in the justice system.»
In addition to finding both paramedics guilty of criminally negligent homicide, punishable by up to three years in prison, the jury also found Cichuniec guilty of assault in the second degree for the administration of the sedative. It was a rare trial of paramedics in such a case.
Judge Mark Warner ordered Cichuniec be taken into custody immediately, while Cooper remained free on bond pending a March 1 sentencing.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, speaking outside the courtroom Friday, said accountability would not end with the convictions, saying that much more work needs to be done to prevent the deaths of innocents at the hands of police and other first responders.
«Elijah did nothing wrong. His life mattered.
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