First Responders in Elijah McClain's Death Appear in Court

By Briasia Russ Published: November 2, 2021

First Responders in Elijah McClain’s Death Appear in Court

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

Three police officers and two paramedics who were charged with manslaughter appeared in court on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in connection with Elijah McClain’s death.

The five men who were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain have made their first appearance in court.

Aurora police officers Nathan Woodyard and Randy Roedema, former officer Jason Rosenblatt and paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec all stood before Adams County District Court Judge Priscilla Loew on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.

According to the Denver Post, each man requested through their attorney to waive the right to have their charges read out loud. Along with their rights as defendants, the defendants did not speak during the trial.

Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, was in the same room as the men charged for her son’s death for the first time. “The main thought that I had was can they even look at me? They couldn’t,” she said. “They can’t look the mother in the eye. They should all be ashamed of themselves.”

The paramedics’ attorneys requested to have their information kept private and away from public view. Loew said she did not intend to keep the case concealed from public view indefinitely, and would unsuppress the cases on Nov. 11.

The five indicted men will appear before Loew again on Jan. 7, 2022 and McClain’s mother will continue to show up to every court hearing. “That’s the least I can do for Elijah,” she said. “What he had to endure, nobody should have to endure.”