Three suburban Denver police officers and two paramedics indicted on manslaughter and other charges in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.
Elijah McClain's mother says her son was an 'artist' who 'truly believed in humanity'
“What I set out to do is still not over, but I’m halfway there. I’m halfway there,” McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, told The Associated Press of her efforts to hold police accountable. Roedema and Rosenblatt also were charged with second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury and one count of a crime of violence related to the assault charge. Cooper and Cichuniec also each face three counts of second-degree assault.
In 2019, a district attorney said he could not charge the officers because an autopsy could not determine how McClain died. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis ordered Weiser to open a criminal investigation last year amid nationwide protests over racist policing, and the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI said they were looking at opening a civil rights investigation. Weiser’s office is conducting a probe into the overall conduct of Aurora police, the first under the new police accountability law.
A city review found no evidence to justify officers stopping McClain, who was wearing a ski mask because family said he had anemia that caused him to get cold easily.