Colorado Appeals Court Tosses Paramedics' Homicide Convictions In Elijah McClain Case
The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday, June 4, 2026, reversed criminally negligent homicide convictions for former Aurora paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec and sent both men back for a new trial.[1]
The appeals court also affirmed Cichuniec's conviction for second-degree assault for unlawful administration of drugs, a count on which his five-year prison term was reduced to probation in September 2024.[1] The court ordered that both men be remanded for a new trial on the criminally negligent homicide charge tied to Elijah McClain's death.[1]
In August 2019, Aurora police forcibly restrained Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, and paramedics injected him with ketamine; he went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance and died three days later.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Thursday, June 4, 2026, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed criminally negligent homicide convictions for former Aurora paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec.
- The court ordered that both men be remanded for a new trial on the criminally negligent homicide charge tied to Elijah McClain’s August 2019 death.
- The appeals court affirmed Peter Cichuniec’s conviction for second-degree assault for unlawful administration of drugs; his five-year prison term on that count was reduced to probation in September 2024.
- McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, was forcibly restrained by Aurora police in August 2019 and injected with ketamine by paramedics; he went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance and died three days later.
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