Elijah McClain (Courtesy of McClain family)
Former Aurora paramedic Peter Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for his role in the killing of Elijah McClain.
A jury found both Cichuniec, 47, and fellow paramedic Jeremy Cooper guilty of criminally negligent homicide in McClain’s death in December. Cichuniec was also convicted of assault by drugging, with a sentence enhancer for causing serious injury or death.
Adams County District Court Judge Mark Warner sentenced Cichuniec to five years for the assault conviction and one year, to be served concurrently, on the homicide charge. Cichuniec will receive 70 days of presentence credit because he’s been in custody since the verdict.
“It is impossible to unremember the video images of Elijah McClain suffering in the last minutes of his young life,” Warner said.
Cichuniec oversaw Cooper as he injected McClain with an overdose of the sedative ketamine after police put the 23-year-old in a neck hold in 2019. McClain had committed no crime and was walking home from a convenience store while wearing a ski mask when he was stopped by officers because someone called 911 and said he appeared to be acting strange. Officers immediately took him to the ground.
The paramedics’ rare convictions sent shock waves through the emergency medicine profession, with paramedics across the nation rethinking how to treat patients who are in police custody and when to use ketamine.
“I wish that I could look into Ms. McClain’s eyes and tell her Elijah would be OK,” Cichuniec said before he was sentenced Friday. “I can’t. And that destroys me as a person, as a father and as a paramedic.”
He cried while speaking in Adams County District Court and apologized for McClain’s death. He also defended his actions that night, saying that he had to make quick decisions without the full picture and did the best he could.
Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, said she wanted Cichuniec to be held accountable for her son’s death.
“My son’s murder was not a tragedy,” she said in court. “…My son’s murder was 100% avoidable… I have righteous anger toward those who made sure my son did not live to see another day, when they could have done better.”
More than 100 people submitted letters of support for Cichuniec to the court, and several people spoke on his behalf in court Friday, describing Cichuniec as a dedicated public servant, family man and a compassionate and capable leader.
David Goddard, Cichuniec’s attorney, argued that the case already has deterred paramedics from taking similar actions as the convictions have reverberated across the profession, and so a minimum prison sentence was appropriate for Cichuniec.
“This case has served as a brutal wake-up call to an industry that before now had perceived the civil justice system as the only remedy for medical malpractice,” he said.
On the assault conviction, Cichuniec faced a minimum five years in prison and a maximum 16-year sentence. He faced up to three years in prison on the criminally negligent homicide conviction, which is a less serious charge than assault.
Sheneen McClain, left, the mother of Elijah McClain, and supporters leave the Adams County Justice Center in Brighton on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
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Cichuniec and Cooper were both fired after their convictions. Cichuniec alone was sentenced Friday. Cooper is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26.
Three Aurora police stood trial last fall on criminal charges in connection with McClain’s death. Now-former officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and was sentenced to 14 months in jail with the option for work-release. He has appealed that conviction.
Former officers Jason Rosenblatt and Nathan Woodyard were acquitted of criminal charges.
McClain’s death prompted thousands of people to take to the streets and protest police brutality during the summer of 2020, led the city of Aurora to pay a $15 million settlement to McClain’s parents, gave rise to court-ordered reform within the Aurora Police Department and spurred changes to state law and police training around the use of ketamine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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