1 officer convicted, 1 acquitted in death of Elijah McClain

By Colleen Slevin And Matthew Brown, The Associated Press on October 12, 2023.

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) – Jurors Thursday convicted a Denver-area police officer of criminally negligent homicide and 3rd-degree assault and acquitted another in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing.

Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty by the 12-person jury, and officer Jason Rosenblatt was found not guilty.

McClain died after being put in a neck hold by a third officer and pinned to the ground, then injected by paramedics with an overdose of ketamine. The third officer and two paramedics are awaiting trial.

The case initially did not receive widespread attention, but protests over the killing of George Floyd the following year sparked outrage over McClain’s death. His pleading words captured on body camera footage, “I’m an introvert and I’m different,” struck a chord.

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