US paramedics guilty in death of young man

A jury in the US state of Colorado has found two paramedics guilty of negligent homicide in the death of a black man who was put in a chokehold and injected with ketamine during his arrest, US media said.
The August 2019 death of Elijah McClain, an unarmed 23-year-old black man, died several days after a struggle with police and after being injected with the sedative by attending paramedics, in a case that caused widespread anger at the time.
The trial of paramedics Jeremy Cooper, 49, and Peter Cichuniec, 51, was the last of three involving the death of McClain, who was stopped by police after a bystander reported he looked suspicious.
He was not alleged to have committed any crime.
The jury found the two paramedics guilty of criminally negligent homicide, the Washington Post reported.
McClain died after police in the city of Aurora responded to a call about a “suspicious” black male “acting weird” in the street and wearing a ski mask.
One officer said McClain, who was unarmed, had reached for another officer’s gun. No evidence was produced to support this claim.
McClain’s family told media that he had been out buying iced tea, and often wore the mask to stay warm because he suffered from anaemia.
In October, a jury found a white police officer guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the case, while another two officers were cleared.
McClain’s death occurred months before the killing of another black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis in May 2020, triggered a nationwide protests over racism and police brutality.
The paramedics’ lawyers argued that their clients had simply followed protocol in administering the drug, but prosecutors said they had ignored their training in handling distressed patients.
“There was no indication that Elijah needed ketamine, and you’ve heard multiple experts say that giving it was for no medical purpose,” prosecutor Shannon Stevenson said in closing arguments, media reported.
“Defendants here never did one thing to try to obtain Elijah McClain’s consent to any treatment – and no reasonable person would consent to an overdose of a drug that they did not need,” he added.
CNN noted that it is rare for paramedics to face charges in relation to the death of the person they were treating.
McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, wept outside the courthouse as a supporter of the McClain family, MiDian Holmes, spoke on her behalf.
“We do not know justice until we see sentencing,” Holmes said. “So Judge Warner you now have a responsibility. We are still seeking justice.”
Colorado Attorney-General Phil Weiser, also speaking outside the courtroom, said that accountability would not end with the convictions, saying that much more work needs to be done to prevent the deaths of innocents at the hands of police and other first responders.
“Elijah did nothing wrong. His life mattered. He should be with us here today,” Weiser said.
Police confronted McClain on the night of August 24, 2019, after a bystander called 911 to report that the man was dressed in a winter coat and ski mask on a warm night, and was acting suspiciously as he walked home from a convenience store.
Police laid hands on McClain within seconds of stopping him and put him in a carotid chokehold at least twice. He vomited into his ski mask and repeatedly told officers he could not breathe.