Elijah McClain death: Opening statements begin in trial for former, suspended Aurora police officers
A jury was seated on Wednesday and opening statements happened Wednesday in the trial for one former Aurora police officer and one suspended Aurora police officer in the death of Elijah McClain. Jason Rosenblatt and Randy Roedema are the first two of five first responders to go on trial.
At the Adams County Courthouse in Brighton, a pool of 250 people received summonses which was whittled down to 12 jurors and two alternates, 7 men and 7 women. None of those seated on the jury are Black.
Rosenblatt and Roedema had previously entered pleas of not guilty in the Elijah McClain case. In total there are five defendants, including two former Aurora police officers, one suspended Aurora police officer and two former Aurora paramedics.
McClain was confronted by officers on Aug. 24, 2019 after a call to report a suspicious person wearing a mask near Colfax Avenue and Billings Street. He was walking home with groceries while wearing a ski mask at the time, something his family said was not uncommon as they say he was anemic and frequently felt cold.
McClain suffered cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead before being taken off life support on Aug. 30, 2019, six days after the violent encounter with Aurora police and medics.
On the initial autopsy report, McClain's cause of death read "undetermined," however that report was amended to read that he died of complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.
In September 2021, a statewide grand jury indicted three Aurora officers and two paramedics in McClain's death after administering ketamine to him.
Former Aurora Police officers Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt, suspended Aurora police officer Randy Roedema, as well as former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec, have been charged with 32 counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Additionally, Roedema and Rosenblatt have been each indicted on one count of assault and one count of crime of violence, while Cooper and Cichuniec have been each indicted on three counts of assault and six counts of crime of violence.
The attorneys for Sheneen McClain, Elijah McClain's mother, announced the family reached a settlement with the city of Aurora in November 2021.
Woodyard is set to stand trial later this month. The trial for Cooper and Cichuniec is set for November.