AURORA, Colorado — Former police officer Randy Roedema has been handed a 14-month jail sentence for his involvement in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. McClain, a Black man, was placed in a chokehold and injected with a powerful sedative by police officers and paramedics in a case that has drawn national attention and raised concerns about police use of force.
McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, condemned Roedema before the sentencing, stating that he “stole my son’s life” and calling the sentence “a slap on the wrist.” Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault in the incident, while his fellow officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was found not guilty in a joint trial.
The confrontation occurred on the night of August 24, 2019, when police stopped McClain after a 911 call reported a man in a ski mask acting suspiciously. McClain was restrained and put in a carotid chokehold, leading to his death. An initial autopsy was inconclusive, but a revised report in 2021 concluded that McClain died from complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.
In a separate trial, two paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide for injecting McClain with an overdose of ketamine. The case initially received little attention, but after the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis asked the state attorney general’s office to investigate McClain’s case, leading to indictments against the officers and paramedics in 2021.
In March, the convicted paramedics are due to be sentenced for their role in McClain’s death. The case has brought renewed attention to police use of force and the treatment of Black individuals in police encounters. It also highlights the role of bystander intervention in reporting police behavior and the importance of thorough investigations into incidents of alleged police misconduct.