Paramedic in Elijah McClain case sentenced to probation, work release

Nearly five years after the death of Elijah McClain in Aurora, the final responder prosecuted in the 23-year-old's death was sentenced Friday, putting a symbolic end — pending appeals — to the multitude of trials and legal proceedings.

Adams County District Judge Mark Warner sentenced Jeremy Cooper, a former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic, to 14 months in a work release program, four years of probation and 100 hours of public service.

A jury had convicted him of criminally negligent homicide, though Cooper and another paramedic were found not guilty of manslaughter, the most serious of the charges, and of second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury. 

"I wish I wasn't standing here talking up to you, cause that would mean you were here," Cooper said during the two-hour sentence hearing on Friday, aiming his head toward the sky, his words meant for Elijah McClain.

Sheneen McClain, Elijah's mother, barged out of the court room. 

"There's so much I want to say to you, but first I want you to know how sorry I am," Cooper continued, stopping for a moment of tears.

"Do not say anything to me or mention my son's name in my presence," McClain said during her victim impact statement. "You cannot evoke my son's name to absolve you of your sinful nature."

During the sentence hearing, about 10 friends and acquaintances described Cooper as a stoic and caring man, strict to his moral code and a great father. He had multiple awards at the fire department, including nine Phoenix Life Saving Awards, and zero filed complaints.

"That past history of service makes it all the more tragic that the hero of another story is the villain of Elijah McClain's," Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber said during the sentencing.

The August 2019 death began as a confrontation between Aurora police officers and McClain, a Black man. The case — along with the death of George Floyd in Minnesota at the hands of  a Minneapolis police officer — triggered public outcry, criminal charges for the first responders, calls for reform of the Aurora Police Department and an investigation by the state's Attorney General's office.

Investigators said they found a pattern of Aurora police officers violating residents' civil rights and using excessive force. The department is still under a consent decree with the state to bring systemic changes to its practices.

"Trust is the most important currency first responders have with the community," Diane Schroeder, a former captain at Aurore Fire Rescue, said during the sentencing. "The night Elijah was killed, that trust was broken."

Schroeder left the department in 2018, when a new chief made drastic changes, she added. 

"The former fire chief dismantled the Emergency Medical Service Bureau without regard for best practices for fire rescue agencies," she said. "The leadership for Aurora Fire, at the time, stopped providing meaningful support to paramedics, including quality control. Training was subpar, accountability was inconsistent and responsibilities were pushed down to the street level without much direction." 

The incident began when a 911 caller reported seeing a man with a mask who seemed “sketchy" walking with a plastic grocery sack.

Ofc. Nathan Woodyard responded and confronted McClain on an Aurora street as McClain walked home from a convenience store carrying three cans of tea and listening to music with his ear buds.

Officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt joined Woodyard and eventually physically subdued McClain, resulting in a struggle where the group ended up on the ground.

Roedema told the other officers that McClain tried to grab Rosenblatt’s gun. Prosecutors repeatedly questioned the veracity of that assertion. Rosenblatt, and then Woodyard, used a neck hold that restricts oxygen flow to the brain, as they tried to take control of him.

After that, according to multiple medical experts testimony, McClain vomited and inhaled some of it. Other health problems followed, including low levels of oxygen and high levels of acid in his body.

McClain said repeatedly, “I can’t breathe,” before two paramedics, Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, injected him with the sedative ketamine. McClain’s heart stopped a short time later. Paramedics then restored his pulse, but he never regained consciousness and died three days later.

Initially, the Adams County district attorney did not charge anyone in connection to McClain's death.

In June 2020, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed Attorney General Phil Weiser as special prosecutor, tasking the latter with investigating and, if the facts supported prosecuting individuals, to do so. Weiser took the case to a statewide grand jury, resulting in an indictment against Cooper, Cichuniec, and the three officers.

Cooper had authority for medical decisions at the scene and Cichuniec had the administrative responsibility for scene safety. Cichuniec requested the ketamine dose from Falck Rocky Mountain, a private ambulance company that contracts with Aurora Fire Rescue, and Cooper administered the injection and dosage.

The duo concluded from officers' statements that McClain was experiencing "excited delirium," a condition that included symptoms like extreme aggression, strength, paranoia and resistance to pain. Colorado’s regulatory board that licenses law enforcement officers, the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, last year voted to strike “excited delirium” from all training documents, starting in January.

Prosecutors in the trial argued that neither of the paramedics assessed McClain before diagnosing him. Cooper did not communicate or check on McClain until six minutes after the ketamine was injected, at which time he was already unresponsive. 

"When Mr. Cooper met Elijah McClain, he did not say one word to Elijah. He did not lay one finger on him. He did not ask for even one piece of equipment to evaluate him before he decided to inject Elijah McClain with a lethal dose of ketamine," Slothouber said Friday.

During the trial, the defense attorneys argued it’s not fair to judge the paramedics' actions with the benefit of hindsight, which included body-worn camera footage and opinions from medical experts. Nitpicking details about what they could have done differently doesn’t equate to criminal liability, their attorneys argued.

The paramedics had said they believed McClain was suffering from “excited delirium” when they arrived.  At the time of the incident, Aurora paramedics were trained that excited delirium could lead to death because of acid buildup in a person’s body from exertion, and ketamine was the only drug available to treat the condition.

Defense attorneys also argued they were able to visually assess McClain’s vital signs. But the police prevented them from taking full control of McClain as their patient, the medics’ attorneys say, continuing to manhandle him and refusing to take McClain’s handcuffs off.

In 2021, a panel of seven medical experts recommended that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment no longer approve the use of ketamine for excited delirium. (The state agency handles licensing and certification of emergency medical services workers.) The panel said the diagnosis has no uniform definition or validated medical criteria. 

The protests over McClain and Floyd ushered in a wave of state legislation to curb the use of neck holds known as carotid restraints, which cut off circulation, and chokeholds, which cut off breathing. At least 27 states, including Colorado, have passed some limit on the practices. Only two had bans in place before Floyd was killed.