An investigative jury indicts cops and paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain in 2019

(CNN) – A Colorado investigative jury indicted three police officers and two paramedics involved in the death of Elijah McClain in August 2019, state attorney general Phil Weiser announced Wednesday.

McClain, a 23-year-old black man, was detained by police while walking home from a store, subjected to a carotid strangulation and then injected with ketamine.

Then-Aurora Police Department officers Randy Roedema, Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard and Aurora Fire Department paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were each charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence homicide as part of one indictment. of 32 counts.

In addition, Roedema and Rosenblatt were each charged with one count of battery and one count of violence, and Cooper and Cichuniec were each charged with three counts of battery and six counts of violence.

“We are here today because Elijah McClain is not here and he should be,” Weiser said. “When he died he was just 23 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him and his family and friends must move on and live without him.”

The investigative jury presented the results of the investigation on Thursday, ahead of the second anniversary of McClain’s death.

The indictment is a stark contrast to the initial findings of the prosecutors in the case. In 2019, Adams County Prosecutor Dave Young had initially refused to press criminal charges because he said prosecutors lacked evidence to show that officers caused McClain’s death or that their force had been unjustified.

However, the case came to the fore again last June, after police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked mass protests within the Black Lives Matter movement. Fueled by those protests and by a viral petition online, Gov. Jared Polis announced a reexamination of the case last year, and Weiser opened a jury investigation into the case in January.

In general, police officers rarely face criminal charges for the deaths of Black people in custody, and convictions in these cases are even rarer. At his press conference Wednesday, Weiser acknowledged the challenge facing prosecutors.

“Make no mistake, we recognize that this case will be difficult to prosecute. These types of cases always are,” he said. “Our goal is to seek justice for Elijah McClain, for his family and friends, and for our state. In doing so, we advance the rule of law and our commitment that all are accountable and equal before the law.”

Elijah McClain’s parents’ reaction

McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, told CNN in a telephone interview that she was excited by the news of the allegations and thanked Weiser, her team and the investigating jury.

“I started crying because two years have passed,” he said. “It’s been a long journey, you know, and it’s overwhelming. I’m still processing it, you know, because this is one of those things that has never really been done and it’s being done right here for my son, so it’s overwhelming.”

McClain’s father, LaWayne Mosely, wept with joy at the news, according to a statement from his attorney.

“Nothing will bring my son back to me, but I am grateful that those responsible are finally held accountable,” Mosely said in the statement.

The Aurora Police Department, Aurora Fire Department and the defendants did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Following city regulations, officers and firefighters charged with serious crimes are immediately and indefinitely suspended without pay, Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly said in a statement.

Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson and Fire Chief Fernando Gray offered their condolences to the McClain family and said they will cooperate with the court process.

A civil investigation is underway into the patterns and practices of civil rights violations by the Aurora Police Department and the Fire Department, Weiser said.

McClain was arrested while walking home from a store

McClain’s last moments have been previously described in images from police body cameras and a 157 page independent research report funded by the Aurora City Council.

Like those documents, the 24-page indictment details the events of August 24, 2019, when officers received a call about a person wearing a ski mask. The agents confronted McClain, a massage therapist, musician and animal lover, who was walking home from a convenience store carrying a plastic bag of iced teas.

Officers tried to physically restrain him, leading to a scuffle, according to the indictment.

“I’m an introvert,” McClain said in body camera video after officers confronted him. “Please respect the limits I’m talking about.”

“Relax,” said an agent at one point, “or I’m going to have to change this.”

McClain, who was wearing earphones in his ears, told officers he was trying to stop his music so he could listen to them. During the scuffle, one of the officers said, “Just grabbed your gun, buddy.” One of the officers told McClain that he would take his dog out and bite it if McClain continued to “bother.”

During the scuffle, officers twice subjected McClain to a carotid strangulation, in which an officer uses his biceps and forearm to cut off blood flow to a subject’s brain, the indictment says. McClain briefly lost consciousness, according to the indictment, but continued to struggle with officers after waking up.

They also put handcuffs on him and kept him on the ground despite repeated pleas that he could not breathe, the document states.
Cooper and Cichuniec, paramedics from the Aurora Fire Department, then arrived at the scene and diagnosed McClain “agitated delirium“A controversial diagnosis that describes violent agitation. None of the paramedics checked his vital signs or spoke to or touched McClain before making the diagnosis, according to the indictment.

McClain was then injected with a dose of the sedative drug ketamine based on an estimate that he weighed 200 pounds when in fact, he weighed 40 pounds, according to the indictment.

“At the time he was placed on the stretcher, Mr. McClain appeared unconscious, had no muscle tone, was flabby, and had visible vomit coming from his nose and mouth,” the indictment says. “(Officer) Roedema said he heard Mr. McClain snoring, which may be a sign of a ketamine overdose.”

The paramedics verified that he did not have a pulse or was breathing and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He never regained consciousness and was declared brain dead on Aug. 27, according to the indictment. Life support was removed and he became an organ donor.

The accusation differs on the cause of death

The accusation clearly differs from the previous documents regarding the actions of the agents and paramedics as a possible cause of his death.

The initial autopsy by the county coroner did not determine the cause of death, but noted that “intense physical exertion and narrowing of the left coronary artery” were contributing factors. The coroner determined that the amount of ketamine in his body was therapeutic.

It was not officially determined how McClain died, a point the District Attorney made in his explanation of why he chose not to prosecute. “I can’t take a case to the jury when I don’t know what the cause of death is in a homicide case,” Dave Young told CNN last year.

However, the indictment indicates the physical restraints of the agents and the administration of ketamine by the paramedics, and cites a clear cause of death.

“Mr. McClain was a normal, healthy 23-year-old man before he encountered law enforcement and medical responders,” the indictment says.

“A forensic pathologist opined that the cause of death for Mr. McClain was complications from acute ketamine administration during restraint and violent restraint by law enforcement and emergency response personnel, and how of the death was a homicide. “

– CNN’s Amir Vera, Dakin Andone and Rachel Webb contributed to this report.