Topline
A paramedic convicted of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault for the unlawful administration of drugs in the death of Elijah McClain was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.
Paramedics Jeremy Cooper, left, and Peter Cichuniec, right, at an arraignment in the Adams County … [+] district court at the Adams County Justice Center on Jan. 20, 2023.
Key Facts
Former Aurora Fire Rescue lieutenant Peter Cichuniec, 51, was sentenced to five years for his role in the death of McClain—who died after being given a lethal dose of ketamine after an incident with police in 2019—multiple outlets reported.
Cichuniec, a paramedic in Colorado, was “responsible for scene safety both for the patient and the emergency response personnel” and was the paramedic who ordered ketamine to be given to McClain, according to the 2021 indictment.
All five officers and paramedics involved in McClain’s death were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide as part of the 32-count indictment, NBC News reported, and a jury found Cichuniec and the other paramedic on scene, Jeremy Cooper, guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December.
Cooper’s sentencing is set for April.
Key Background
McClain, an unarmed Black man, was confronted by three police officers after someone reported him as a suspicious person wearing a ski mask. The officers later tackled McClain to the ground, struggling to place him in handcuffs and putting him in a stranglehold. Paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later and injected the 23-year-old with what was later discovered to be a lethal dose of ketamine based on an overestimation of McClain’s weight. One year later, the use of neck holds by police officers was banned by Colorado’s legislature. One of the officers, Randy Roedema, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault last year and sentenced to a little more than a year in jail. The other two officers, Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt, were acquitted of their charges.
Further Reading
NytimesParamedic Sentenced to Five Years in Death of Elijah McClain
