Homicide convictions reversed for paramedics who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine

By — Mead Gruver, Associated Press Mead Gruver, Associated Press By — Matthew Brown, Associated Press Matthew Brown, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/homicide-convictions-reversed-for-paramedics-who-injected-elijah-mcclain-with-ketamine Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Homicide convictions reversed for paramedics who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine Nation Jun 4, 2026 7:55 PM EDT FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado court reversed homicide convictions against two paramedics on Thursday in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was pinned down by police and injected with a fatal dose of ketamine. McClain's final words — "I can't breathe" — foreshadowed those of George Floyd a year later in Minneapolis, and the Colorado man's name became part of the rallying cries for social justice that swept the U.S. in 2020. READ MORE: What to know about the cases against police and paramedics surrounding Elijah McClain's death The appeals court ordered new trials for Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec. McClain, 23, had been forcibly restrained and put in a neck hold by police, who stopped him in response to a suspicious person complaint as the massage therapist walked home from a convenience store in the Denver suburb in 2019. Criminal charges against paramedics and emergency medical technicians involved in police custody cases are rare. As McClain's death and others raised questions about the use of ketamine to subdue struggling suspects, this prosecution sent shock waves through the ranks of first responders across the U.S. New trials in the case will return the issue to the spotlight, and that could make first responders think twice when responding to calls involving people in police custody, said University of Miami criminologist Alex Piquero. "At 11 o'clock tonight when they're on a call, and the circumstances are the same, is this going to influence their behavior?" Piquero asked. "It may not be the first thing that comes into their heads, but it's going to be there." A jury in 2023 found Cooper and Cichuniec guilty of criminally negligent homicide following a weekslong trial in state district court. The jurors also found Cichuniec guilty of second-degree felony assault. Cichuniec received five years in prison. Cooper avoided prison and was sentenced to 14 months in jail with work release and probation. State attorney general says he will appeal The appeals court upheld Cichuniec's assault conviction, but faulted the instructions given to jurors with respect to the criminally negligent homicide charges before they deliberated. Thursday's ruling sends their cases back to a lower court for a new trial on that charge. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser will appeal Thursday's decision, a spokesperson said. "Bringing these cases to trial was the right thing to do for justice, for Elijah McClain, and for heal