Colorado police officers, two paramedics and another official accused of being responsible for the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old black man who died after being handcuffed and injected with a powerful sedative, pleaded not guilty Friday to several charges that they include manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Aurora police officers Randy Roedema, Nathan Woodyard and former Aurora officer Jason Rosenblatt, along with fire paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Lt. Peter Cichuniec made the statement during a court hearing in Brighton, a Denver suburb.
The officials did not speak except to acknowledge that they understood their rights.
McClain died on August 24, 2019, following a confrontation with police after leaving a grocery store in Aurora.
DEATH OF ELIJAH MCCLAIN ATTRIBUTED TO KETAMINE ADMINISTERED BY PARAMEDICS
Protesters carry signs as they walk down Sable Boulevard during a rally and march for the death of Elijah McClain in Aurora, Colorado on June 27, 2020.
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
At the time, McClain, a massage therapist, was wearing a ski mask, according to the indictment. He went into the store, bought an iced tea, and went out. Then the police approached him.
He had not been accused of committing any crime, but the situation quickly escalated.
The three officers claimed that McClain was resisting their instructions and forcibly restrained him.
During their interaction, McClain was handcuffed to the ground, complained that he couldn’t breathe and vomited multiple times, according to the indictment.
DEATH OF ELIJAH MCCLAIN: COLORADO GRAND JURY INCURES 3 POLICE OFFICERS, 2 PARAMEDICS
The document said McClain lost consciousness and was injected with ketamine.
Paramedics Jeremy Cooper, left, and Peter Cichuniec, right, at an arraignment in Adams County District Court at the Adams County Justice Center on January 20, 2023.
(Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Paramedics Peter Cichuniec, fourth from left, and Jeremy Cooper, fifth from left, flanked by their attorneys, left, and prosecutors, right, during an arraignment in Adams County District Court at the Adams County Justice Center on January 20, 2023.
(Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
McClain’s relatives have since said he wore the mask because his anemia made him cold. “I’m just different,” McClain can be heard explaining in the body cam footage released.
Subsequently, a police accountability law was passed in Colorado that prohibited strangulation and restricted the use of ketamine.
A grand jury indicted the five officials who contributed to the arrest and death on 32 counts, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges in 2021. The indictment came after Democratic Gov. Jared Polis ordered Attorney General Phil Weiser to open a criminal investigation into the case.
An initial autopsy report concluded that the ketamine dose was higher than recommended for someone his size, but his manner of death was still listed as undetermined, not a homicide.
AURORA COLORADO POLICE QUESTIONED USE OF FORCE DURING ELIJAH MCCLAIN PROTEST: REPORT
McClain would most likely have survived if not for the dose, the autopsy also determined, although it did not specify what caused his death.
An amended autopsy report was published in September last year.
He said McClain died as a result of complications from ketamine administration after he was forcibly restrained.
A man walks past a screen displaying an image of Elijah McClain outside the Laugh Factory during a candlelight vigil for McClain in Los Angeles on August 24, 2020.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Dr. Stephen Cina, a pathologist, said at the autopsy that he could not rule out that changes in McClain’s blood chemistry due to his exertion while held down by police contributed to his death, but concluded there was no evidence that the injuries inflicted by the police caused his death. death.
DEATH OF ELIJAH MCCLAIN: AURORA TO PAY $15M TO FAMILY OF BLACK MAN IN FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS SETTLEMENT
Family members and others packed into the small courtroom, where they viewed the guilty pleas and watched as the judge scheduled three separate trials for the officials.
Officers Roedema and Rosenblatt will stand trial in July. Another trial for Cooper and Cichuniec is scheduled for August, while Woodyard’s is scheduled for September.
Megan Downing, an attorney representing Woodyard, declined to comment at the trial, saying any defense she offered on the allegations would be included in the grand jury material, which remains sealed.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser during a press conference announcing an indictment of the three Aurora police officers and two Aurora fire paramedics in the death of Elijah McClain on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
(Aaron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Lawyers for the other defendants similarly left the court without addressing the allegations.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In 2021, the city of Aurora agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by McClain’s parents for $15 million.
His death sparked protests against police and law enforcement.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
