Paramedics were convicted in Elijah McClain’s death. That could make other first responders pause

By Colleen Slevin and Matthew Brown | The Associated Press Sheneen McClain outside the Adams County Colo., Justice Center, after a verdict was rendered in the killing of her son Elijah McClain, Friday, Dec. 22, 2023, in Brighton, Colo. Two paramedics were convicted in the 2019 killing of McClain, who they injected with an overdose of the sedative ketamine after police put him in a neck hold. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Two Denver-area paramedics were convicted Friday for giving a fatal overdose of the& sedative ketamine& to Elijah McClain in 2019 — a jury verdict that experts said could have a chilling effect on first responders around the country. The case involving the 23-year-old Black man’s death was the first among several recent criminal prosecutions against& medical first responders& to reach trial, potentially setting the bar for prosecutors for future cases. It also was the last of three trials against police and paramedics charged in the death of McClain, whom officers stopped following a suspicious person complaint. He was injected with the sedative after being forcibly restrained. The case received little attention until protests over the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. An Aurora police officer...