Officer found guilty of negligent homicide, second acquitted in Elijah McClain's in-custody death

A jury found one officer guilty and acquitted a second on Thursday in the death of Elijah McClain, who died days after a confrontation with police responding to a 911 call of someone wearing a ski mask and "acting strangely" on a street in Colorado in 2019.

Aurora officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault. The second officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was acquitted of all charges, The Associated Press reported. Roedema faces up to three years in prison.

In court to hear the verdict, McClain's mother, Sheneen McClain, held her right hand in a fist as she left the courtroom, the wire service reported.

Prosecutors argued the defendants used excessive force and disregarded signs McClain was in medical distress.

The officers' defense attorneys countered their clients used "reasonable and efficient force" and that McClain died from a ketamine overdose given by paramedics, Denver's ABC affiliate KMGH-TV reported.

An indictment spells out how McClain died and what led up to the death on Aug. 24, 2019, as the young man walked home from a convenience store.

A driver spotted McClain — wearing a black mask and a jacket — and called 911.

Roedema, Rosenblatt and a third officer, Nathan Woodyard, responded to a dispatch call for service to the area. Woodyard, the first to arrive, ordered McClain to stop. Woodyard did not see McClain with any weapons but noted a grocery bag he thought was "suspicious."

Rosenblatt arrived next and joined Woodyard, and the stop quickly turned physical. The officers grabbed McClain's arms, moved him to a grassy area and pushed him up against an apartment building wall.

Roedema grabbed the grocery bag — containing cans of iced tea — from McClain's hands and threw it to the ground. McClain struggled as the officers tried to restrain him.

While McClain was up against the wall, Roedema told the other officers McClain had reached for "your gun," but whose was unclear. The AP reported that Roedema later said Rosenblatt's gun was the target.

Prosecutors told jurors to be skeptical, saying Rosenblatt said he could not feel anyone reaching for his gun.

Roedema's lawyer, Don Sisson, said the officers acted in the moment to protect themselves after he claimed McClain said, "I intend to take my power back," the wire service reported.

Rosenblatt applied an unsuccessful carotid control hold to McClain, and Woodyard used a carotid control hold. McClain went unconscious and snored.

Roedema put McClain in a "bar hammer lock," when officers hold a person's arm behind their back to gain control. Roedema said he "cranked pretty hard" on McClain's shoulder and heard it pop three times.

Once McClain lost consciousness, Woodyard released the carotid control hold, and Rosenblatt radioed for Aurora Fire Rescue to respond. Just then, McClain regained consciousness, and the struggle resumed.

Woodyard reported McClain started to "twist and pull away" while on the ground. The three officers wrestled McClain to the ground. Roedema tried to maintain control of McClain by putting his body on him to "sprawl him out."

The officers said McClain exhibited "extraordinary strength." The officers cuffed McClain and continued to restrain him. They remained on top of him and held him on the ground despite pleas that he could not breathe.

Woodyard rolled McClain onto his side into the "recovery position." McClain vomited multiple times into his mask during the struggle.

Additional officers arrived. None checked McClain's pulse or monitored his airway, breathing, or circulation.

McClain said his name, said he could not breathe and that what the officers were doing "really hurt." McClain reported he did not have a gun, asked for help, and asked to find his phone.

Roedema increased pressure on McClain while restraining him, causing him to cry out, "Ah, ow, okay, okay."

Roedema responded, "Well, chill out! You've already been told several times to stop."

When McClain spoke again, Roedema picked up McClain's torso and forcibly pushed it to the ground, causing McClain to cry out, "Ow!"

Roedema ignored McClain's repeated statements, saying he could not breathe. When other officers told Roedema to make sure McClain could breathe, the officer dismissed them, the indictment said.

Aurora Fire Rescue Paramedics Jeremy Cooper injected 500 mg of ketamine, a sedative, into McClain's right deltoid as he was handcuffed on the ground — a dosage for a patient who weighed 77 pounds more than McClain. His correct dosage for his weight, had it been warranted, would have been 325 mg, the indictment said.

On the gurney, McClain appeared unconscious, had no muscle tone, was limp, and had "visible vomit from his nose and mouth."

In the ambulance, McClain had no pulse and was not breathing. Paramedics performed CPR, intubated him, and gave him a shot of epinephrine. At the hospital, McClain regained a pulse but never regained consciousness. He suffered a hypoxic-ischemic event, hypoxia, hypoxemia, aspiration, metabolic acidosis, lacerations, abrasions, and bruising.

He was declared brain dead on Aug. 27, 2019. His family removed him from life support days later.

An emergency room doctor who reviewed police body-worn camera footage of the incident said the paramedics inaccurately diagnosed McClain at the scene and said ketamine should never have been administered, the indictment said.

Woodyard is set to go to trial later this month. Cooper and Paramedic Peter Cichuniec are scheduled for trial in November.

McClain's family sued for wrongful death and won a $15 million settlement.

McClain's death sparked nationwide protests over racial injustice.

Law&Crime's Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.