Aurora police officer Randy Roedema has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault in a Colorado court on October 13, 2023. He is one of the officers who arrested Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man who died on August 30, 2019, after being held in a chokehold and injected with ketamine. The other officer who approached Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist who was walking home, was found not guilty. Roedema and the other officer, Jason Rosenblatt, stopped Elijah McClain after receiving a report of a suspicious person. The victim was walking home from a convenience store and carrying his phone and iced tea, reported ABC.
ABC reported that prosecutor Jonathan Bunge said the officers used unnecessary force instead of properly trying to deescalate the situation. Pointing to body camera footage, Bunge also said, "When Elijah is on the ground handcuffed, he's saying over and over and over again, ‘I can’t breathe. Please help me.’” The chokehold caused Elijah McClain to lose consciousness, reported People, and vomit, reported ABC.
Two paramedics are also being charged because the ketamine they injected him with contributed to his death, according to officials. The amount of ketamine they injected him with was also too much for his body weight. Prosecutors also claimed that the officers were not honest about Elijah McClain's health status when communicating with paramedics, according to CNN. Rosenblatt's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said to the jurors, "“Please be fair and don’t allow emotion or sympathy come into it."
More from LittleThings: Nancy Pelosi Was Actually Ordered By Interim Speaker To Leave Her Capitol Building Office
Elijah McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, told CNN affiliate KUSA that the verdict was "not justice." “This is not a victory for me at all. This is not a victory for the human race. This is not justice," she told KUSA. "They have an eternal judgment that they have yet to see. And no matter how they try to clean up their slate, they still have my son’s blood on their hands.”
The two paramedics and another officer have also been charged. Their trials are scheduled for later dates.
