Colorado Court Overturns Homicide Convictions for Paramedics in Elijah McClain Case

A Colorado appellate court overturned homicide convictions against two paramedics on Wednesday, finding that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to prove the medics caused Elijah McClain's death during a 2019 police encounter in Aurora.

Judges ruled that evidence presented at trial did not establish that paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichunette administered ketamine in a manner that directly caused McClain's death. The court noted that no witness testified the paramedics acted recklessly or negligently when they injected the sedative.

McClain, 23, died after police stopped him on a street in Aurora on Aug. 24, 2019. Officers responded to reports of a suspicious person. During the encounter, police placed McClain in a chokehold. Paramedics then arrived and administered ketamine at the scene.

McClain's death drew national attention two years later during the 2020 protests following George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. Floyd's final words, "I can't breathe," paralleled McClain's statements during his arrest. McClain's name became part of demonstrations calling for police and medical accountability.

The case against the paramedics proceeded after a grand jury indicted them on charges of second-degree assault and criminally negligent homicide in 2021. A jury convicted both men in November 2022.

The appellate decision addresses a central question in the case: whether the paramedics' actions directly caused McClain's death or whether other factors, including the police encounter that preceded their arrival, played a role. The court found prosecutors failed to prove the sedative injection was the direct cause.

Cooper and Cichunette have maintained they followed standard protocols when administering ketamine.

An independent investigation into McClain's death, commissioned by Colorado authorities and released in 2021, concluded that McClain died from complications of ketamine use combined with the stress of police restraint. The investigation found no evidence supporting criminal charges against the paramedics at that time.

The overturned convictions mark another development in a case that prompted scrutiny of Aurora police practices and paramedic protocols. McClain's family has pursued civil litigation seeking damages related to his death.

The appellate court's decision does not prevent prosecutors from appealing or pursuing new charges if they choose to do so, though any attempt would face the same evidentiary standards the appellate judges applied.