A Colorado police officer has been convicted of criminally negligent homicide and assault over thedeath of Elijah McClain.
Randy Roedema — who was fired from his job in 2020 — was found guilty of the crimes at a court in Aurora, Colo on Thursday, reported multiple outlets includingTheNew York Times,Associated PressandLos Angeles Times.
A second officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges, according to the reports.
The trial of Roedema and Rosenblatt — whowere indictedin connection with the 2019 death in July 2022 — was the first of three trials for five people charged in connection with McClain’s death.
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Courtesy McClain Family
Police officer Nathan Woodyard and paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec have also been indicted. According to court dockets, Woodyard’s trial is scheduled to begin in October, while the two paramedics will face a jury beginning in late November. All three have pleaded not guilty.
Jason Rosenblatt (left) and Randy Roedema (right) sit in court.Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
McClain died while walking home from a grocery store on August 24, 2019, after police officers stopped him in connection to a 911 call that reported a suspicious person operating in the area. As the encounter escalated, Woodward allegedly applied a chokehold on McClain, causing him to briefly lose consciousness.
McClain suffered cardiac arrest and died several days later.
Family Photo
During the trial — which wrapped up Tuesday,CNN reported— prosecutors argued that the officers failed to de-escalate the situation and violated department protocol.
“When Elijah is on the ground handcuffed, he’s saying over and over and over again, ‘I can’t breathe. Please help me,'” said prosecutor Jonathan Bunge, according to anABC Newsreport.
The defense countered that the paramedics injected McClain with the ketamine and that McClain had been told to “stop fighting” several times, reported CNN.
Rosenblatt was fired from the department months after the incident, after allegedly responding “haha” to a text of a photo of three other Aurora police officers reenacting the chokehold, who were also fired,PEOPLE previously reported.
The city of Aurora settled a$15 million civil rights lawsuitregarding the case in November 2021.
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source: people.com
