Late one evening, a passerby noticed Elijah McClain gesturing oddly at random passersby and called police. Responding police called for McClain to stop, and he responded by telling them he had a right to go where he wished. Officers then physically grabbed his arms, and he tensed his body up, making it difficult to search him. The physical encounter escalated into a struggle, and one officer believed him to be trying to grab a gun and alerted others.
As multiple officers struggled with McClain on the ground, one applied a choke hold. Firefighter paramedics who responded to the scene saw Mr. McClain on the ground, agitated and wrestling. They administered ketamine to sedate him. Soon afterward, Mr. McClain vomited and then went into cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive him failed.
The City of Aurora retained The Forensic Panel for a peer reviewed death investigation. The lead forensic pathologist was peer reviewed by three forensic pathologists, two forensic toxicologists and a forensic psychiatrist. The examiner and team reviewed the evidence from autopsy, photographs, slides, and witnesses, including body cam and all statements. Ultimately, the opinion supported the contribution of excessive force and the role of a heavier dose of ketamine in causing his death. The case resulted in convictions for criminally negligent homicide; the city settled with the decedent’s family for 15 million dollars.
