Despite the finding, the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, is still being listed as undetermined, not a homicide, the report shows. McClain was held by the throat and injected with ketamine after being stopped by police in Aurora for “being suspicious.” He was unarmed. The initial autopsy report done shortly after his death in August 2019 did not conclude on how he died or what his type of death was, such as whether it was natural, accidental or a homicide. This was a major reason why prosecutors initially decided not to press charges. However, a state grand jury last year indicted McClain for manslaughter and manslaughter in his death after the case gained renewed attention following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. It became a rallying cry during the national reckoning on racism and the police brutality. The five defendants have yet to enter pleas and their attorneys have not publicly commented on the charges. McClain is seen with a family member in Aurora, Colo., in this undated photo. (Submitted by family/Reuters) In the updated report, Dr. Stephen Cina concluded that the dose of ketamine given to McClain, which was higher than recommended for someone his size, “was excessive for this individual and resulted in an overdose.” “I think Mr. McClain would probably be alive but for the ketamine administration,” said Cena, who also noted that body camera footage shows McClain becoming “extremely drugged” within minutes of being administered it. medicine. The findings of the amended autopsy report, which was updated in July 2021 but withheld from the public until Friday, echo an opinion included in the grand jury indictment issued about two months later by an unnamed pathologist who concluded that McClain died from complications of injecting ketamine while being violently subdued and restrained by law enforcement and emergency responders. It is not clear if this pathologist was Dr. Sinai. Cina’s updated report said there was no evidence that police-inflicted injuries caused his death. A person wears a shirt bearing photos of Aurora police officers involved in the incident that led to McClain’s death in Aurora in July 2020. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press) According to the indictment, Peter Cichuniec, who supervised the paramedic team, ordered ketamine from an ambulance and Jeremy Cooper injected it into McClain. Cooper’s attorney, Mike Pellow, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. A message left for Cichuniec’s attorneys, David Goddard and Michael Lowe, was not immediately returned. Cina acknowledged that other reasonable pathologists with different experience and training might have labeled such a death while in police custody as a homicide or an accident, but he believes the appropriate classification has not been determined. Qusair Mohamedbhai, an attorney for McClain’s mother, Sheneen McClain, declined to comment. Elijah’s mother, Sheneen McClain, left, leaves the Adams County Justice Center with her attorney Quasar Mohamedbhai in Brighton, Colo., on April 15. (Kevin Mohatt/Reuters) The updated autopsy was released Friday following a court ruling in a lawsuit brought by Colorado Public Radio, along with other media organizations, including the Associated Press. Colorado Public Radio sued the medical examiner to release the report after learning it had been leaked, arguing it should be available under the state’s public records law. Coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan said she could not release it because it contained confidential grand jury information and that releasing it would violate an oath she took not to share when she obtained it last year. But Adams County District Judge Kyle Seedorf ordered the medical examiner to release the updated report by Friday, and a Denver judge overseeing state grand jury proceedings, Christopher Baumann, ruled Thursday that the grand jury’s information did not were deleted. McClain’s death has reignited scrutiny over the use of ketamine and led Colorado’s health department to issue a new rule limiting when emergency workers can use it. Last year, the city of Aurora agreed to pay US$15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by McClain’s parents. The lawsuit alleged that the force the officers used against McClain and his struggle to survive dramatically increased the amount of lactic acid in his system, leading to his death, possibly along with the large dose of ketamine he was given. An outside investigation commissioned by the city faulted the police investigation into McClain’s arrest for not pressing for answers about how officers treated him. It found there was no evidence to justify the officers’ decision to stop McClain, who had been cited as suspicious because he was wearing a ski mask while walking down the street waving his arms. He was not charged with breaking any laws.
