Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Wednesday that a grand jury has indicted the three police officers and two paramedics who were involved in the 2019 arrest that led to the death of a 23-year-old Black man, Elijah McClain.
In August of 2019, McClain was walking home from a nearby grocery store when he was stopped by police. Police were responding to a 911 call where an individual reported that a man fitting McClain’s description walked into a store to buy ice tea while wearing a face mask. At the time, the coronavirus pandemic had not yet unfolded across the globe.
Although the caller who initiated the 911 call did not accuse McClain of a crime, he did report McClain looked “suspicious.” After police encountered McClain on the street, a scuffle quickly ensued that led authorities to throw McClain to the ground and administer a now-banned carotid artery chokehold. McClain was also injected with the tranquilizer ketamine by both the paramedics and the officers who were on the scene.
According to body camera footage worn by one of the officers, McClain can be heard begging, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe, please. I can’t. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe, please stop."
According to his family, McClain choked on his own vomit as the police used excessive force to detain him. They also report that he suffered a heart attack after having been given a high dose of the tranquilizer. The combination of his injuries led him to become brain dead. The young man passed away six days after arriving at the hospital.
Listed in the indictment are Aurora police officers Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, along with former officer Jason Rosenblatt. The two Aurora Fire Rescue Paramedics include Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec.
The indictment lists 32 counts spread among the officers and paramedics. All are facing one charge of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide while Roedema and Rosenblatt face an additional one count of assault and one count of a crime of violence each. Cooper and Cichuniec also each face three counts of assault and six counts of crime of violence. The indictment announcement comes just two days after the two-year anniversary of McClain’s deadly police encounter.
After releasing the indictment, Weiser shared, "We're here today because Elijah McClain is not here and he should be.” Weiser adds, “When he died he was only 23 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him and his family and his friends must now go on and must live without him."
McClain’s father, Lawayne Mosely, shared in a statement of the indictment, “Nothing will bring back my son, but I am thankful that his killers will finally be held accountable.” The family is currently filing a lawsuit against the Aurora Police Department as well as the individual police officers and paramedics involved in his son’s death.
After the charges are formally filed by prosecutors, the four individuals who are currently employed by the city are expected to be suspended without pay. The fifth officer, Rosenblatt, is no longer employed by the department. Following Mcclain’s death, it was uncovered that Rosenblatt sent text messages that mocked McClain’s death. He was promptly fired after the discovery.
