One of the two Aurora paramedics convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
Former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic Peter Cichuniec’s sentence comes nearly three months after an Adams County jury found him and a second paramedic, Jeremy Cooper, guilty in the death of McClain, whom they injected with an overdose of the sedative ketamine after police put him in a neckhold.
It was the last trial against police and paramedics charged in the death of McClain, a 23-year-old Black massage therapist who was walking home from a convenience store when police forcibly detained him.
McClain was not armed and had not committed any crime.
Though not the lead medical officer on the unit, Adams County District Court Judge Mark Warner pointed out that Cichuniec was the highest ranking firefighter and paramedic on the scene.
“Should more questions have been asked to ensure better medical treatment?” Warner said before imposing Cichuniec’s sentence at the end of a roughly two-hour hearing Friday afternoon.
“The answer is simply, ‘yes.’”
Cichuniec was also convicted of second-degree assault by unlawful administration of drugs. Cooper was acquitted of that charge.
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Cichuniec, who has been in jail since he was convicted, asked the judge for leniency, describing his passion to help the Aurora community and his remorse for McClain’s death.
“We can’t save everyone. I wish my mind could forget the things my eyes have seen over the last 18 years on Aurora Fire, but that will never happen,” Cichuniec said from a lectern while wearing yellow and white jailhouse garb. “Elijah will always be on my mind along with all of the others.”
“There was absolutely no intent to cause any harm to Elijah McClain,” he later added.
In an emotional plea to the judge, Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, said Cichuniec could have done more to save her son’s life.
“Elijah wasn’t in a burning building when he was murdered. There wasn’t a beam or large obstruction in the way of them saving Elijah’s life except for one of their own colleagues,” Sheneen McClain said.
“My son’s murder is not a terrible tragedy regardless of how many times you reiterate those words in order to feel better,” she said. “My son’s murder was 100% avoidable.”
More than 100 people submitted letters to the judge attesting to Cichuniec’s commitment to helping others, while others presented in court Friday, describing him as a family man, leader in his field and a public servant.
Under Colorado sentencing laws, Cichuniec faced between five and 16 years in prison for the assault conviction, which was the most serious verdict handed down against any of the first responders indicted in the case. He faced up to three years in prison on the criminally negligent homicide charge.
He will receive 70 days of pre-sentence credit for time he has spent in jail since he was convicted.
Cooper’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 26.
The sentencing and convictions of the paramedics highlighted gaps in medical procedures that experts told The Associated Press must be addressed so more deaths can be prevented.
Some departments now require thorough patient assessments before and after ketamine injections, the AP reported, and caution against using ketamine on people being restrained by police in a prone position — which increases the chances for fatal complications by making it harder for patients to breathe.
The Adams County district attorney originally declined to charge anyone in McClain’s death, but after receiving more attention in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed Attorney General Phil Weiser as a special prosecutor and reopened the investigation. Weiser took the case to a statewide grand jury, which returned indictments against three police officers and two paramedics.
In a statement Friday, Weiser said Cichuniec disregarded his training when he ordered McClain to receive a deadly dose of ketamine.
“No action will bring Elijah back or take away the pain and loss that his mother, Sheneen McClain, continues to experience. But today’s sentence from the court is one of accountability for the defendant’s criminal negligence in the death of Elijah McClain,” Weiser said. “It sends a strong message that no profession, whether a paramedic, a nurse, a police officer, an elected official, or a CEO should be immune from criminal prosecution for actions that violate the law and harm people.”
Police stopped McClain in Aurora as he was walking home from a convenience store Aug. 24, 2019, following a suspicious person complaint. After an Aurora police officer said McClain reached for an officer’s gun — a claim disputed by prosecutors — another officer put him in a neck hold that rendered McClain temporarily unconscious.
Officers also pinned down McClain before Cooper injected him with a dose of ketamine too large for his weight. Cichuniec was the senior officer and said it was his decision to use ketamine.
An Aurora police officer was also convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault last year in McClain’s death. Two other officers were acquitted.