What to know about Elijah McClain’s death and the cases against police and paramedics

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Prosecutors said Tuesday a Denver-area police officer who put Elijah McClain in a neck hold before he was injected with ketamine by paramedics bears responsibility for the Black man’s 2019 death, following a split verdict by jurors last week in a separate trial against two other officers charged in the case.

Assistant Attorney General Ann Joyce said in opening statements in the trial of Aurora Officer Nathan Woodyard that Woodyard violated department policies on force and de-escalation and then abandoned McClain — a 23-year-old massage therapist who had been walking home from a convenience store when police confronted him — by stepping away from the immediate scene.

As in the trial against the other two officers, the defense pinned blame instead on two paramedics who are scheduled for trial next month. However, Woodyard’s attorney has yet to suggest McClain bore any responsibility for what happened, as the defense sometimes did in the first trial.

Paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec are scheduled to be prosecuted in the final trial in the case next month.

Here’s what you need to know about McClain’s death:

WHY WAS ONLY ONE OFFICER CONVICTED IN THE FIRST TRIAL?

McClain’s death was one of several that were revisited after the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, and his name became a rallying cry at the ensuing social justice protests.

A jury convicted Randy Roedema on Thursday of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, the least serious charges he faced, but acquitted Jason Rosenblatt on all counts.

The officers had faced similar charges and the jury didn’t explain its decisions. During the trial, Rosenblatt’s attorneys pointed out that he wasn’t near McClain when he was injected with ketamine.

Prosecutors alleged that Rosenblatt held McClain’s legs when he was on the ground before Rosenblatt stepped away, while Roedema held McClain’s shoulder and back. Roedema and another officer who wasn’t charged restrained McClain while paramedics administered the ketamine.

Roedema was the senior of the two officers. He was often visible in body camera footage shown to jurors. At times, he seemed to be directing others what to do.

Rosenblatt had only been on the force for two years when McClain died. He was fired in 2020 for making light of a reenactment by other officers of the neck hold.

Former Colorado prosecutor George Brauchler said the jury seemed to be thoughtful in that it distinguished between the two officers’ actions and rejected prosecutors’ suggestion that there had been some complicity between them.

Brauchler, who prosecuted the 2012 Colorado theater shooting, said it appears the jury found there was enough medical evidence to hold Roedema accountable for McClain’s death.

Roedema could get anywhere from probation to three years in prison when he’s sentenced Jan. 5.

Judge Mark Warner would likely take into account that Roedema was convicted for committing a crime while in uniform and consider the type of message his sentence will send, Brauchler said.

WHY DID POLICE STOP McCLAIN?

Woodyard was the first of three officers who approached McClain after a 17-year-old 911 caller said McClain, who was wearing earbuds and listening to music, seemed “sketchy” and was waving his arms as he walked home on the night of Aug. 24, 2019. McClain was often cold and wore a runner’s mask and jacket despite the warm weather, prosecutors said in the indictment.

The encounter quickly escalated. Prosecutors say Woodyard put his hands on McClain within eight seconds of getting out of his patrol car without introducing himself or explaining why he wanted to talk to McClain. McClain, seemingly caught off guard, tried to keep walking.

Then, after Roedema said that McClain had reached for one of their guns, Woodyard put him in a neck hold, pressing against his carotid artery, which rendered him temporarily unconscious. Joyce said McClain didn’t try to get a gun, but defense attorney Megan Downing said Woodyard had to react quickly to protect everyone since officers did not have the luxury of hindsight to know whether McClain posed a threat.

Paramedics later injected McClain with an overdose of ketamine, a powerful sedative. He was pronounced dead three days later.

Woodyard is charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, as Roedema and Rosenblatt were, but not assault, as they were.

DID THE KETAMINE OR NECKHOLD KILL McCLAIN?

The neck hold, called a carotid control hold, restricts the flow of blood to a person’s brain. Many states, including Colorado, have passed limits on neck restraints since the murder of Floyd in Minneapolis.

McClain had been kept on the ground for 15 minutes when paramedics gave him 500 milligrams of ketamine. He weighed 140 pounds (64 kilograms) but received a higher dose of ketamine than recommended for someone of his size, said Dr. Stephen Cina, a forensic pathologist who performed McClain’s autopsy. Cina ultimately decided that McClain died of complications from the ketamine, noting that it occurred after the forcible restraint. However, he wasn’t able to say if the death was a homicide or an accident. He testified at the first trial that he was not able to conclude whether the officers’ actions contributed to it.

Pulmonologist David Beuther testified that McClain threw up repeatedly and inhaled vomit, which made it hard to breathe. Even before the ketamine was injected, McClain’s health had deteriorated to the extent that he belonged in an intensive care unit, he said.

Joyce told jurors that McClain began to vomit right after being put in the neck hold.

WHY WERE THE OFFICERS CHARGED?

A prosecutor initially decided not to bring charges in McClain’s death largely because the initial autopsy didn’t determine exactly how he died.

Following the protests over Floyd’s death, though, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis directed the state attorney general to re-investigate the McClain case. A grand jury indicted the three officers and two paramedics in 2021. Cina said he changed his autopsy findings to pin the blame on ketamine in 2021 after looking at body camera footage.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana.