Elijah McClain’s Mother Is Heartbroken After Paramedic Only Gets 5-Year Prison Sentence

One of the paramedics convicted of killing Elijah McClain was handed a five-year prison sentence on Friday (March 1) after begging the judge for lighter penalties, according to KUSA. Judge Mark Warner sentenced Peter Cichuniec to five years in the Department of Corrections for second-degree assault, which is the minimum sentence for the conviction. Cichuniec injected a lethal dose of ketamine into McClain, 23, without consent during his brutal arrest in 2019. The Black man’s heart stopped and he died days later. Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, said she was shocked at the “bare minimum” punishment the paramedic got for the death of her son. “Minimum, the bare minimum always?” Sheneen McClain told reporters after the sentencing. “No. We deserve better, we deserve more.” A jury found Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper guilty of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a one-year prison sentence. Cichuniec will serve that concurrently and he’ll get credit for the 70 days he’s been in custody. He’ll be on parole for three years after he’s released. Cooper will be sentenced next month. Three Aurora police officers arrested McClain in August 2019 after getting a report of a “suspicious person,” which led to authorities beating up the 23-year-old and...