In Aurora, Colorado, a trial is underway of two paramedics who face criminal charges over the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. Police videos show Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec injected McClain with the powerful sedative ketamine after police arrested him and placed him in a dangerous carotid hold as he was walking home from a grocery store. McClain suffered a cardiac arrest within minutes of being injected and died days later. A pulmonary critical care specialist testified there was “no reason to give” McClain ketamine. Prosecutors also accuse the paramedics of neglecting to assist McClain after they drugged him and he lay dying on the ground.
Meanwhile, Aurora police officer Nathan Woodyard, who was acquitted last month of homicide and manslaughter charges in McClain’s death, returned to work after a two-year suspension, receiving over $200,000 in back pay.