Family of Elijah McClain to Receive $15M From City of Aurora

Social Justice

By Alyssa Wilson Published: November 19, 2021

Family of Elijah McClain to Receive $15M From City of Aurora

FILE - In this June 27, 2020, file photo, demonstrators carry a giant placard during a rally and march over the death of Elijah McClain outside the police department in Aurora, Colo. The parents of McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died after officers in suburban Denver stopped him on the street last year and put him in a chokehold, sued police and medical officials Tuesday, Aug. 11. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

In Summary

The family of Elijah McClain, who died at the hands of Aurora’s first responders in 2019, will receive a multimillion-dollar settlement from the city.

The City of Aurora, Colorado, has agreed to pay $15 million to the family of Elijah McClain to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit related to McClain’s death.

Sources familiar with the settlement confirmed the news to CBS Denver. While declining to discuss the details, city officials said an agreement was reached and released the following statement:

“The city of Aurora and the family of Elijah McClain reached a settlement agreement in principle over the summer to resolve the lawsuit filed after his tragic death in August 2019. City leaders are prepared to sign the agreement as soon as the family members complete a separate but related allocation process to which the city is not a party. Until those issues are resolved and the agreement is in its final form, the parties cannot disclose the settlement terms.”

The price tag on the settlement makes it the largest police-related settlement in the history of Aurora, CBS Denver reported.

McClain’s parents, Sheheen McClain and Lawayne Mosley, sued police and medical officials in Aug. 2020 and resolved the suit in Oct. 2021, BNC previously reported. The two are set to address how the settlement will be divided in a court hearing scheduled for Friday.

On Aug. 25, 2019, McClain was stopped by police on his way home. Officers placed him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with 500 milligrams of ketamine. Shortly after, he suffered cardiac arrest. He was declared brain dead and he died days later.

In September, two officers with the Aurora Police Department, one former officer and two paramedics, were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the death of the 23-year-old.

After news of the $15 million settlement was released, Sheneen McClain released a statement through her attorney, saying, “Ms. McClain would like to thank the community for its incredible support, love, and commitment to ensuring that Elijah’s death would lead to meaningful reform.”

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