Paramedic Peter Cichuniec received a five-year prison sentence late Friday, marking a significant development in the high-profile case of Elijah McClain’s death.
Cichuniec was convicted in December of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault for his role in McClain’s death while in police custody. His co-defendant, Jeremy Cooper, also faces a similar charge, with an upcoming sentencing hearing in April.
A criminal trial against paramedics, who are considered local government agents protected by statutory immunities, is unparalleled.
McClain’s mother Sheneen called the sentence the "bare minimum."
"They had an opportunity to save him. He was speaking, he was talking when they got there," she told CNN affiliate KUSA after the sentencing. "I can't even imagine what Elijah experienced. I'm just glad this part is over."
Judge Agrees
"It is impossible to unremember the video and images of Elijah McClain's suffering in the last minutes of his young life," said Adams County Judge Mark Warner at Friday's sentencing, noting that Cichuniec was the highest-ranking paramedic on the scene that day.
What Happened: Police stopped McClain, 23 at the time, while he was walking home from a convenience store in August 2019, following a 911 call that his behavior was “sketchy.” The police who stopped him said that he was polite until he became upset at not understanding why he was being detained. At that point, two paramedics injected him with a fatal overdose of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic. Prosecutors said the paramedics did not conduct basic medical checks on the 23-year-old Black man, such as taking his pulse. Experts testified that the dose was too much for a person his size. McClain weighed 140 pounds.
Cichuniec claimed he believed McClain was experiencing “excited delirium,” though medical experts contested this assessment, testifying that they found no evidence of it in the body camera footage. Prosecutors argued that the paramedics acted recklessly when they administered the ketamine. Colorado now prohibits paramedics from using ketamine for this condition.
The case not only sets a precedent for holding medical professionals accountable in instances of excessive force and inappropriate medical practices but also underscores the ongoing debate surrounding police interactions with people of color.
Cichuniec was also sentenced to a one-year concurrent sentence for the charge of criminally negligent homicide, according to CNN affiliate KMGH.
Photo courtesy of McClain family
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