Source: Boston Globe / Getty
One former cop has been convicted for the murder of 23-year-old Elijah McClain, who died three days after he was forcefully pinned down by Aurora, Colorado, police in 2019 for looking “suspicious” — then given a lethal amount of ketamine.
After 16 hours spent across three days deliberating, a 12-person jury found guilty former Aurora Police Department officer Randy Roedema of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, according to USA Today. The 41-year-old’s sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 5, 2024. On the day of that verdict, the jury acquitted former Aurora officer Jason Rosenblatt, 34, of all his charges. He faced the same felony charges as Roedema.
The two disgraced officers were part of the trio of cops and two paramedics indicted in 2021 over McClain’s death. Officer Nathan Woodyard was ultimately suspended from the Aurora Police Department, and his trial begins Oct. 13. The two paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, were also suspended. Their trials begin in November.
The latter two each face one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon (ketamine) and one count of unlawfully administering the sedative without consent, according to the Denver Gazette.
“This is the divided states of America, and that’s what happens,” Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, solemnly stated after Rosenblatt and Roedema’s verdicts.
Bone-chilling and heart-wrenching police bodycam transcripts from the Aug. 24, 2019, incident revealed that McClain was genuinely fighting for his life amid his sheer terror and stress.
Woodyard found McClain after a call to the police was made about a man in a ski mask walking down the street. There was a struggle between the 23-year-old and the police as he begged Woodyard, Rosenblatt and Roedema to leave him alone. He pleaded to be heard and respected and told the cops he was trying to go home. He was distraught as he struggled to tell the three officers he couldn’t breathe.
McClain was unarmed, but he was placed in a carotid artery chokehold. Amid the incident, the 23-year-old was accused of reaching for one of the officer’s guns.
The young man, a massage therapist, received 50% more ketamine from Cooper than a person his size should have; MadameNoire previously reported after he vomited multiple times while in police custody, he had a heart attack while being transported to the hospital.
After being pronounced brain dead, McClain subsequently went into a coma and was taken off life support on Aug. 30, 2019.
His original autopsy claimed that his death was “undetermined.” The document was later updated to clarify that McClain’s life was taken due to “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.”
The Department of Justice prohibited law enforcement’s use of the carotid artery chokehold in September 2021.
Portions of McClain’s final words are below. May he continue to rest in power and peace.
“Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking.”
“You guys started to arrest me and I was stopping my music to listen. Now let go of me.”
“I intend to take my power back because I intend to be (inaudible) I get to be (inaudible).”
“I can’t breathe, please stop!”
“My name is Elijah McClain!”
“That’s all I was doing, I was just going home! (inaudible). I’m an introvert, and I’m different!”
“I’m just different! I’m just different. That’s all! That’s all I was doing!”
“I’m so sorry. I have no gun. I don’t do that stuff. I don’t do any fighting. Why would you (inaudible) me? I don’t do (inaudible). I don’t even kill flies! I don’t eat meat. But I’m not a vegetarian. I don’t judge people or anything. I try to live in secret (crosstalk). And I respect all life.”
“Forgive me! All I was trying to do was become better.”
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