Prison sentenced vacated for paramedic convicted in death of Elijah McClain in Colorado

The prison sentence for one of the former paramedics convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain was vacated Friday by a Colorado district court judge. Peter Cichuniec had been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide last year and will now only face a four-year probation period.

In a motion to reduce his sentence, his attorneys wrote Cichuniec is an "individual with no history of violence and no prior criminal history ... and is not an ongoing risk to the public." On Friday, the court determined sentence reconsideration is appropriate.   

According to the Denver Post, Judge Mark Warner said in Friday's court hearing that he was vacating the sentence due to "unusual and extenuating circumstances and they are truly exceptional in this particular case."

The Colorado Attorney General's Office also said this week's court decision was made due to "unusual circumstances" in Cichuniec's case, but did not elaborate. 

Cichuniec was a paramedic with Aurora Fire Rescue in 2019 when he responded to the scene where McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, had a confrontation with police. McClain, a massage therapist, had been walking home and police stopped him after someone reported him as looking suspicious and the situation escalated to violence. After Cichuniec arrived, he, along with another paramedic, injected McClain -- who had been slammed to the ground, restrained by officers and put in a neck hold -- with ketamine. McClain went into cardiac arrest soon after that and died several days later.

Cichuniec was sentenced to 5 years in prison in March, which was the minimum possible sentence. After that, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser issued a statement saying in part that the sentence sent "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."

After Friday's decision, Weiser released a statement saying: "After considering the evidence, a statewide grand jury indicted Cichuniec and a jury of his peers found him guilty of his criminal acts that led to the death of Elijah McClain. We are disappointed the court reduced his sentence today, but we respect the court's decision."

During his trial, Cichuniec testified that his training never provided a warning that ketamine could kill someone.

The International Association of Fire Fighters says the judge's decision acknowledges the challenges faced when making split-second decisions. In a statement their president wrote: "While nothing can undo the tragic events of Mr. McClain's death, the IAFF is relieved that the court recognized the need for fairness and justice in this case."

Aurora's NAACP says their heart goes out to Elijah's mother and that "The recent change in sentencing serves as a reminder that the fight for Black Lives Matter is ongoing. We thank the Colorado Attorney General's Office for their courageous efforts in making sure that the individuals responsible for the murder of Elijah McClain were made accountable for their actions."

Paramedic Jeremy Cooper was also found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to four years probation. One of the police officers, Randy Roedema, was also convicted in the case of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced in January to 14 months in jail. Two other officers were acquitted.

As a result of the lengthy investigations that ensued after McClain's death, the Aurora Police Department went through major reforms. McClain's death also led to rallies with protesters crying for social justice and scrutiny towards the practice of administering ketamine to patients who are showing signs of being agitated.