Colorado Court of Appeals reverses paramedics' homicide convictions in 2019 death

The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the criminally negligent homicide convictions for the former paramedics involved in the 2019 death of a 23-year-old man. The decision, announced Thursday morning, sends both men back for a new trial on that charge.

The man was walking home in August 2019 when police officers confronted him and paramedics injected him with ketamine. He went into cardiac arrest minutes later in an ambulance and died three days afterward.

Background of the case An Adams County coroner's office initially could not determine the cause of death. After protests drew attention to the incident, a medical examiner concluded the man died from complications of ketamine following forcible restraint.

That finding led to a 2021 indictment of three police officers and two paramedics. The Colorado Attorney General's Office prosecuted the case in Adams County Court. Both paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide in December 2023.

Court rulings and sentences The appeals court affirmed one paramedic's conviction for second-degree assault for unlawful administration of drugs. That paramedic's five-year prison sentence had been vacated in September 2024 and reduced to probation.

The second paramedic received a sentence of four years probation, 14 months work release, and 100 hours of community service in April 2024. >"A jury convicted two paramedics for the death of Elijah McClain, an innocent Black man who did nothing wrong that tragic night seven years ago.

" — Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (CBS News) Three Aurora police officers were also tried in connection with the death. Two were acquitted in fall 2023; the third was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and sentenced to 14 months in jail plus four years probation.