1 officer convicted, another acquitted in death of Elijah McClain

AURORA, Colo. — A jury has convicted an Aurora, Colorado, police officer and acquitted another in connection with the arrest and death of Elijah McClain, 23, on Aug. 24, 2019.

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Aurora Officer Randy Roedema, who is currently suspended, was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, according to KMGH.

Former Officer Jason Rosenblatt was found not guilty of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault, the news outlet reported.

McClain died after a third officer put him into a neck hold, according to The Associated Press. He was pinned to the ground before paramedics injected him with an overdose of ketamine.

The third officer and the two paramedics are awaiting trial, the AP reported.

“I know many have been waiting a long time for the involved parties to have their day in court,” Aurora Police Department Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement.

“As a nation, we must be committed to the rule of law. As such, we hold the American judicial process in high regard. We respect the verdict handed down by the jury, and thank the members of the jury for their thoughtful deliberation and service. Due to the additional pending trials, the Aurora Police Department is precluded from further comment at this time.”

First responders got a call of a suspicious person walking down the street in August 2019, CBS News reported. That was when the first responders found McClain, who was wearing a mask and carrying groceries.

A grand jury indicted Rosenblatt, Roedema and a third officer for forcibly restraining McCain during a violent struggle, CBS News reported. The encounter was caught on police body cameras.

A coroner’s report issued in 2021 found that McCain’s death was caused by the dose of ketamine that paramedics administered, according to CBS News. The coroner said that he could not rule out that the carotid hold officers put him in might have contributed to his death.

The AP reported that there was no widespread attention first paid to McClain’s case, but outrage was sparked the following year, during protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

Roedema has not yet been sentenced.