FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Two paramedics convicted in the ketamine overdose death of Elijah McClain will receive new trials after a Colorado appeals court overturned their homicide convictions Thursday.
The court mandated fresh trials for Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec in the death of McClain, a 23-year-old Black massage therapist. McClain died after being physically restrained by officers who had approached him following a report of suspicious activity as he walked home from a store in 2019.
Before his death, McClain uttered the words “I can’t breathe” — a phrase that would tragically echo George Floyd’s final words in Minneapolis one year later.
In 2023, a jury convicted both Cooper and Cichuniec of criminally negligent homicide after a lengthy trial in state district court. The same jury also found Cichuniec guilty of second-degree felony assault.
Cooper received a sentence of 14 months in jail with work release privileges and probation, avoiding prison time. Cichuniec was given a five-year prison sentence.
While the appeals court maintained Cichuniec’s assault conviction, it criticized the jury instructions provided before deliberations on the criminally negligent homicide charges. Thursday’s decision returns their cases to a lower court for retrial on that specific charge.
Cichuniec was released from prison early in 2024 when a judge modified his sentence to four years of probation. Judge Mark Warner referenced “unusual and extenuating circumstances” under Colorado’s mandatory sentencing law, which permits sentence modifications after a defendant serves at least 119 days behind bars. Warner noted that Cichuniec faced time-sensitive decisions that night as the senior paramedic on scene.
The Associated Press attempted to reach the attorney representing McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, for comment. Additional requests for statements were sent to the paramedics’ legal representatives and their union.
