Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi everybody. It's Jules, welcome back. This is episode 15, the concluding part of our three-part mini series on Elijah McClain. This is part three of three. So if you've not yet listened to part one or part two, make sure you go back and do so and then come on back here. I promise I will be here for you when you are ready.

Speaker 1: 0:20

You guys, all of my sources, all of my notes, all of my sites that I've gone to and articles I've read are cited on our website, truecrimeandheadlinescom. Thank you to the anonymous person who gave us a five-star review recently. That was cool. We've sure appreciated that. Also, I wanna thank you. There are so many true crime podcasts and you are here with us and sometimes I just wonder if what we're doing is helpful and if it's helping people understand the why, not just the how. Because that is our goal here is to try to understand the why, not just the how, and we always wanna put victims first. So thank you for being here and following along as we try to remain true to our ethics in true crime reporting. Thank you so much, joe. Our favorite bestie will be back in episode 16. So hop on in.

Speaker 1: 1:14

We're gonna conclude this part of episode 15, part three of three of Elijah McLean ["The Last Song of the Year"]. Today's episode, I'm going to finish this case of Elijah McLean with as much information as I can as of November 2023. You guys, this case is still unraveling and evolving as of November 2023. So this case is not done. In fact, I'm going to have to come back into a bonus episode to update everybody about an upcoming trial that will get into that is actually taking place next week. This episode is aftermath and a subsequent charges filed and convictions made in the wrongful death of Elijah McLean. Now it's in the hospital that Elijah McLean is declared brain dead after four days in a coma, and it's on August 30th 2019, just a few days after Elijah entered Aurora Police Department custody, that he is removed from life support and he is declared dead. Elijah's mother was not able to afford burial costs for her son, so there was a GoFundMe setup to help with the cost in cremating Elijah's remains. It's in the hospital that Elijah McLean is declared dead after four days in a coma, and it's on August 30th 2019, just a few days after Elijah entered Aurora Police Department custody, that he is removed from life support and he is declared dead. Elijah's mother was not able to afford burial costs for her son, so there was a GoFundMe that she had set up to help with the costs, and they did end up cremating Elijah's remains.

Speaker 1: 3:07

I think it's important to know a little more about Elijah's mother, shanine. At the time of Elijah's death, she was homeless and living out of a hotel with some of Elijah's siblings. Shanine had been driving for Lyft, but because of an accident a few weeks prior to Elijah's arrest, she was out of a car and out of a job. Times were absolutely tough all around, but she was proud of Elijah and the life that he worked hard to carve out for himself. Elijah had dropped out of high school at 17, but instead of giving up on his dreams and his goals, he took the GED once he turned 18 and he passed. It's then that he began reading more for enjoyment and teaching himself new things like how to play the violin. He continued on his path of success when he enrolled himself in massage therapy school while working at Little Caesar's Pizza.

Speaker 1: 4:02

Was Elijah McClain on drugs on August 24th 2019 when he was detained by police? That is a big question that continues to be asked. It was asked that night by the police, so let's take a look. According to Elijah McClain's autopsy report, the only substances that were found in his system was a trace of THC. Now we know from friends that Elijah had been recreationally smoking marijuana time to time, which was legal in Colorado, and now we know that there was only a small trace of THC even in his system. I was able to find a copy of Elijah McClain's official autopsy report and you guys, I'll go ahead and I'll link that in the show notes for you as well, if you wanna pull it up and follow along or dive deeper into it later. Now, before we go into the autopsy report, we need to talk about the actual process of getting this autopsy report conducted. So we have the prospector, dr Steven J Cena, for Adams County, and we have the coroner, monica Brunchia Jordan, who is not actually medical doctor, but the chief coroner for Adams and Brunfield counties.

Speaker 1: 5:20

The original 2019 report said that Elijah McClain's death was undetermined. However, a 2021 amendment was made and this is part of the findings after a grand jury investigation began. This is from the amendment quote. After review of all material available to us at this time, it is my opinion that this 23 year old African American male, elijah McClain died of complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint quote you guys. The report also states how Dr Cena still stands by the undetermined cause of death, along with homicide. You know, homicide in Colorado actually just means that someone's death was caused by someone else, which would mean that there are two causes of death, something which is extremely rare.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Now, it is proper medical examiner protocol to seek out a second opinion from another professional in their field when there is a ruling of undetermined. However, this did not happen in 2019. Why not? That's proper protocol. Why did this not happen? Was it just accepted because it fit a narrative? I'm not saying it did. I'm not pushing a political agenda. I'm asking questions on each side of the coin here, guys.

Speaker 1: 6:45

The findings were accepted in. The investigation into the arriving officers was concluded based off the autopsy findings. So why are people so upset? You guys? It's because of this. The Aurora police and state reps were at the autopsy. The police were in conversations and having meetings with the coroner. Now, the chief coroner does say that this is common practice, because I have to obtain information. Obviously, however, there is a call to amend this protocol as it is an ethical when it involves a police investigation into their own department.

Speaker 1: 7:27

The following is a quote from the head of the National Association of Medical Examiners, dr Sally Akin. Quote law enforcement officers and coroners work together nearly every day and met your Denver. Coroners and their investigators get access to crime scenes and have to consult with police and shares deputies regularly to reach conclusions about how people died. But coroners are also the first objective reviewers of a death case with no stake in the outcome, making it important that they function independently from police and quote this was clearly not done independently of the police and I'm not sure how that would have been possible, because the police are in the room for the autopsy, standing right next to the coroner While the coroner is conducting the autopsy. You know, let's not bury the lead here.

Speaker 1: 8:23

Elijah McClain was given 500 milligrams of ketamine. He was only 143 pounds and five foot six. This dose of ketamine was per amended autopsy findings from the autopsy report itself, quote the investigation suggests that the decedent in this case received an intramuscular dose of ketamine that was higher than recommended for his weight. Further, my review of all of the body camera footage shows that Mr McClain was extremely sedated within minutes of receiving a shot of ketamine when he was placed on a stretcher, I believe he was displaying agnobreathing. Respiratory arrest was imminent. Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose, even though his blood ketamine level was consistent with a therapeutic blood concentration. I believe that Mr McClain would most likely be alive, but for the administration of ketamine. End quote. It's in this report.

Speaker 1: 9:28

It's noted by the examiner that he does not believe that the carotid hold was also a factor in the death of Elijah McClain. And why is that important, you guys? It's important because those words can be used to excuse the officers from criminal negligence, from criminal homicide of Elijah McClain, the ones who performed the carotid hold. Now here's what the report says about this quote A carotid control hold was applied during the decedent's restraint. I cannot determine whether this carotid hold contributed to death via stimulation of the carotid sinus, though the literature suggests that this was unlikely. Further, this type of hold is often used in the martial arts with no lasting adverse consequences. There were no findings in the neck indicative of excuse me, my dog. Further, this type of hold is often used in the martial arts with no lasting adverse consequences. There were no findings in the neck indicative of traumatic asphyxiation. In addition, during restraint the body weight of officers was used to subdue the decedent. However, after the weight was removed, the decedent was still alive and was able to speak. I have seen no evidence that injuries inflicted by the police contributed to death. End quote. And this is also why people are suspicious about the Rora Police Department being in such close communication with the Chief Coroner, because how explicit the report says they do not believe the police are at fault for Elijah's death.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Here is the official, signed off, amended report on Elijah McLean's autopsy. So we have two different things cause of death and manner of death. A cause of death and manner of death are two different things, two different things. Cause of death, they said, was complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint. Manner of death in the report was ruled undetermined. Cause of death and manner of death are two different categories but both are to be examined during the autopsy report and findings. Now a Colorado County website says, quote the coroner investigates both manner and cause of death.

Speaker 1: 12:04

The manner of death refers to the circumstances in which the death arose. The cause of death is defined as any injury or disease that fatally interrupts the natural process of life. Cause of death, per Elijah's report was ketamine overdose following forcible restraint. Here are categories in Colorado for manner of death accidental death, homicide death, natural death, suicide death and undetermined death. So get this quote deaths classified as undetermined are deaths in which, after a thorough investigation and consideration of all information available, one manner of death is no more compelling than another manner of death. End quote.

Speaker 1: 12:52

So undetermined could mean it could have been a homicide death or an accidental death. In these cases, it doesn't mean it wasn't one of those, it means it could be more than one of those. So, instead of unknown, undetermined, there wasn't enough evidence to proclaim, hey, this was an accidental death or hey, this was a homicide death. Per Dr Cena's autopsy amendment report in 2021. Now he does conclude his amendment to the report by stating that most ketamine overdoses are accidents, and I think that the fact that there were Aurora Police Department officers involved in meeting with Dr Cena and the chief medical examiner and that fact that a second opinion, which is protocol when ruled undetermined manner of death, was not followed through, is you guys.

Speaker 1: 13:45

I think this is why so many people have a problem with how this case was handled. I'm not saying things are right or wrong. I don't have all of the details. I don't know all of the information, but what I know is the review of how things were handled, and a lot of sources believe that this was not handled correctly. Now some sources say this was handled how it typically is handled, this is how we typically do things. And then the other side came out and said well, this isn't how we should do things any longer. How can we learn, evolve and change?

Speaker 1: 14:21

The findings of Elijah McClain's autopsy were rare, and how rare. Well, it's rare in Colorado to have both an undetermined manner and a cause of death. In 2019, only 53 deaths out of 40,100 had both an undetermined cause and a manner, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. Now we have the 17th judicial district attorney, a man named Dave Young, who, after just a few weeks following the conclusion of the autopsy findings, clears the officers involved and he says that, you guys, there's not enough evidence in the findings of a homicide and therefore he cannot charge the officers. And so how do we go from dropping charges or not even bringing charges, excuse me forward to the officers on the death of Elijah McClain to 2023, where one of the officers is convicted of criminal homicide. How do we get to there? What's that leave? How does that happen? Well, you guys, a lot has happened in between Officers Nathan Woodyard, jason Rosenblatt and Randy Rodima. They were the three officers who are charged, and we will go into what came out of those charges. So let me take you along for this May 25, 2020. This is just nine months after Elijah McClain's death.

Speaker 1: 15:55

A man named George Floyd also dies in police custody. George Floyd's case brought the spotlight back onto Elijah McClain's case, as there were many alleged similarities, down to both detained men claiming to police officers I can't breathe and both subsequently dying in police custody. This is absolutely important to note. Before the George Floyd case in riots, in fact, three months before, the Aurora Police Department put together community task force with the goal, to quote improve effective and transparent communication between Aurora Police Department and community, while including recommendations for citizen involved. Slash citizen based review process of critical incidents, police operations and police practices and procedures. This team would consist of community members, volunteers, police, et cetera. So when the George Floyd riots began taking off nationwide, you guys, the Aurora Police Department was already moving towards a more transparent relationship between them and the community, even if no charges were filed for the wrongful death of Elijah McClain. At the time, there was awareness that things needed to be repaired between the community and law enforcement.

Speaker 1: 17:17

In July of 2020, we have our second investigation into the death of Elijah McClain. A new interim police chief is voted in, vanessa Wilson, making her the first woman police chief for the city, and the next month, in August, elijah McClain's family attorney files a lawsuit in federal court against the three officers and two paramedics involved in the August 24, 2019 incident of Elijah McClain. And from CPRorg site quote September 1, colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that a grand jury filed a total of 32 criminal charges against three Aurora police officers, nathan Woodyard and Ronnie Rodima, and former officer Jason Rosenblant and two paramedics, jeremy Cooper and Peter Chuninick, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, for their role in the deadly detention of Elijah McClain in 2019. All five turned themselves into the Glendale Police Department the same day the indictment was announced. They were released after posting $10,000 bonds. End quote.

Speaker 1: 18:32

As much as I want to get into every detail in this case, I can't because then we would be here forever and this is a podcast where we typically have just three in a mini series. We're not long form on one story on true crime and headlines. I will go and look and see if there are any well done long form podcasts on this case already and after reviewing them I think that they're great. I'll go ahead and link them to send you, guys, on over there. But I can't do that for true crime and headlines. It's not one case every week.

Speaker 1: 19:10

But I want to encourage you to continue to keep asking the big questions of why and not just how. I would love to analyze, digest, unpack and learn from everything here, but again, I can encourage you to do so. If this sparks a passion in you, a question in you, go ahead and dig deeper. I've started you off with some sources. Look for your own, ask your own questions, guys. Are there bigger questions to ask about this case which I have yet to ask on this episode? Absolutely, guys, of course. Of course, and I readily admit that, because I want to lay out some facts.

Speaker 1: 19:51

Elijah McClain died in police custody and these are the changes which have been implemented as a result of the activism in lawmakers following his death. So ketamine administration is not to be given outside of a hospital setting and it's no longer to be given in the field, and corroded holds are no longer permitted In 2021, aurora Police Department agreed to pay Elijah McClain's parents $15 million in a settlement, which is the largest settlement ever made involving a civil suit for police violence, and it's just after this settlement that we are now caught up to win. The autopsy report for Elijah McClain is amended, and it's important because at this point, the officers are charged with the death of Elijah McClain. The officers did the corroded chokehold. However, the autopsy finding states that the death was from ketamine overdose, which was not administered by the police. Two of the three police officers who were charged were still active duty officers. However, one was suspended, and here's why Photos were circulating the Aurora Police Department through text message exchanges of officers going to the scene of Elijah's arrest and acting out corroded holds. One photo was sent to Officer Woodyard and although he was not involved in the photo, he does respond to the photo he receives in the text with quote ha ha. This was taken very seriously by the police chief, and she did issue a statement completely condemning this behavior In January.

Speaker 1: 21:35

It was ordered that the paramedics have a separate trial from the police officers, even dividing it up even more so both paramedics named Peter Seetrunik and Jeremy Cooper were to be tried together, and then Officer Woodyard on his own, as he was the first one on the scene with Elijah McClain, and he did administer the second corroded hold on Elijah the hold that did cause Elijah to lose consciousness and the other two officers, randy Rodima and Jason Rosemblant, to be tried together. As we know, there were two attempted corroded holds, however. The one attempted by Officer Rosemblant did not work and it did not make Elijah pass out. So we have three different trials set. Let's talk about the first trial, of the two officers, rodima and Rosemblant, and, for the sake of time, I'm going to snapshot this trial.

Speaker 1: 22:29

Many law enforcement training experts say on the stand that the officers did not follow typical protocol before and even after the corroded holds. A chief medical examiner also testified that, while they agreed with the autopsy report on the cause of death, they believed the manner to not be undetermined and to in fact be homicide. Remember, homicide is death caused by another individual. These are the charges that the two officers faced criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter and assault In. What was the outcome of this trial? There was a split verdict One officer was acquitted, not guilty, and one was convicted of homicide.

Speaker 1: 23:17

How is that possible Comes down to who was physically restraining Elijah McClain during the administration of Ketamine by the paramedics. Who was physically holding Elijah McClain? In an article by Colleen Slevin and Matthew Brown it's reported that quote prosecutors alleged Rosemblant held McClain's legs when he was on the ground but stepped away shortly before the sedative was administered, while Rodima held McClain's shoulder and back. Rodima, this most senior of the three officers, was often visible in the body camera footage shown over and over again to jurors. At times he seemed to be directing others what to do and quote the one who was found guilty was the one who was physically holding McClain down. Rodima, the more senior of the officers For Woodyard's trial.

Speaker 1: 24:18

Officer Woodyard's trial the first officer on the scene. Woodyard is on the stand telling the court this about why he reacted with the force in which he did. I heard Mr McClain say he was going to take his power back. I was expecting to get shot and I would never see my wife again". The defense argued Woodyard had to react to what he heard in the moment. He testified that he was overwhelmed and scared and began to cry. While talking to his supervisor, he said she suggested he take a break. He said he went to his car and cried some more before returning to the scene.

Speaker 1: 24:58

You can hear in part two of this episode the conversation between Woodyard and his supervisor. If you go and watch some of the police cam footage in the links that I have included in our show notes, you can see her padded back and comfort him. It does seem to go with what he was saying. You can hear how Woodyard had walked away from McClain, who was wide awake and talking under the care of the other two officers, and at the point this is a big part of the defense for Officer Woodyard he walked away from McClain and when he did, mcclain was okay then and he was not part of the Ketamine administering team. He was not the one near McClain and holding McClain down. When McClain was administered Ketamine, officer Woodyard was found not guilty of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide of Elijah McClain. So if you're keeping track, that's a $15 million payout to the McClain family from the Roar Police Department and one of the three charged officers was convicted in the death of Elijah McClain and next up, the two paramedics who administered the fatal dose of Ketamine to Elijah McClain.

Speaker 1: 26:17

Well, you guys, they haven't started their trial yet. They're slated to begin the end of November, november 27th to be exact. So as of today we have about a week to go before the trial for the two paramedics begin. In fact, by air dates you will be able to have caught up on the trial, as it would have already begun. It's likely a week into the trial already, and the two paramedics, jeremy Cooper and Peter Chikunik, have filed to have the charges against them dismissed. That is a very big lawn shot, guys. Don't see it happening.

Speaker 1: 26:56

A CPRorg article by Tony Gorman and Allison Borden helps us understand why the paramedics are being charged by summarizing the grand jury indictment with an itemized list of things the paramedics failed to do, which were known as standard protocol. Quote they did not perform a proper assessment of McClain and incorrectly diagnosed it could have been an excited delirium. They did not get a reasonable estimation of McClain's body weight, so the dose of ketamine was too high for his 140 pounds. They did not properly monitor McClain after giving him ketamine, leading to predictable complications from the sedative end. Quote we know Elijah was administered 500 milligrams of the sedative ketamine, but the prosecutors argue that the appropriate dose should have been around 325 milligrams, thus making 500 milligrams the fatal dose for Elijah. Both men are charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault, and both men have pled not guilty.

Speaker 1: 28:05

You guys, this case matters because there is so much to learn on every side of this case. Again, this is not a political statement. This is not a political stance. This is a humanity stance. My heart goes out to everybody affected On every side of this. Lives have been changed, no matter what. No matter how we look at it. Lives have been changed.

Speaker 1: 28:30

How can we learn from this? What can we learn from this? I'm sure there's different takeaways for different people, there's different lessons here for different people, but what I want to end with is this how can we learn from this? What can we learn from this? I know I took a chance doing a fairly controversial case. I know I didn't touch on many of the controversial sides of this case. I know I didn't go deep, as many listeners would have liked me to have gone, and I didn't do that because of this.

Speaker 1: 29:09

My personal agenda does not matter as far as my political agenda. What matters is that I remain true to True Crime and Headlines' mission statement, and that is we put victims first, we tell the story for people who need it the most and we ask why analyze, why not just how? So that we can learn from it? We have to be able to learn from True Crime in order to digest it, in order to ingest it. We have to learn from it so it's not just entertainment, so it's not just learning about people's worst days, so that we can do something and move forward with it. Advocate, find a passion and advocate.

Speaker 1: 30:00

In this circumstance, I really wanted to tell the story of Elijah McClain because I do not believe he deserved to die At all. Elijah McClain should not have died, and a lot of people in law enforcement, a lot of civilians, a lot of volunteers, a lot of political members are working hard to make sure that there will be no more Elijah McClain's in this world. We do not want to repeat this story. To Elijah McClain's family I'm so sorry. I wish that this wasn't a story we had to share and to all the men and women in law enforcement who are working hard to rectify what was happening, what was wronged, to learn from this. To all the people who are ethical and just. We know that you are out there to protect, and what we want to say is may we never be above learning. May we never be above learning from our mistakes.

Speaker 1: 31:10

Thank you so much for joining me at True Crime and Headlines. I am so happy to be here. I'm so thankful to be your host and you know what guys. You matter, your story matters. You deserve to be found and if you ever go missing, I promise I will look for you. You guys have a good day. I love you and your butt looks great, and me, I love you. I love you. I love you. My mama is a podcaster. She was in the