AURORA, Colo. — A paramedic convicted of the most serious charge in the death of Elijah McClain will spend no more time behind bars after an Adams County judge converted his sentence to probation on Friday.
Peter Cichuniec, convicted of second-degree assault and criminally negligent manslaughter in McClain’s 2019 death, had been sentenced to five years in prison in March. That was essentially the minimum sentence for his assault conviction.
A spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General's Office confirmed on Friday that Adams County District Judge Mark Warner converted Cichuniec's sentence to four years of probation. Warner is also the judge who sentenced Cichuniec in March.
"After considering the evidence, a statewide grand jury indicted Cichuniec, and a jury of his peers found him guilty for his criminal acts that led to the death of Elijah McClain," said Attorney General Phil Weiser in a statement. "We are disappointed the court reduced his sentence today, but we respect the decision."
McClain's mother, Sheneen, said in a statement that she expected the sentence reduction.
"I'm not surprised at all," she said in a statement. "The laws and how they are enforced in American states (+globally) are factual examples of why/how humans are so flawed. Plus, I'm sure the judge weighed the outcomes of the other participants involved in my son’s murder and felt he needed to be lenient today, as well. None of them have escaped divine judgements against them. I'm sure those sentences won't be televised."
McClain was first contacted by three Aurora officers on Aug. 24, 2019, after someone called 911 about a man who was "suspicious" and wearing a ski mask.
Aurora Police officers Nathan Woodyard, Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt confronted McClain on an Aurora street, and a physical struggle began. After Roedema said he saw McClain try to grab Rosenblatt’s gun – an assertion prosecutors repeatedly questioned – the officers twice put him in a neck hold with the objective of rendering him unconscious.
McClain vomited and inhaled some of it, then suffered a series of medical problems, including low levels of oxygen and high levels of acid in his body.
McClain said repeatedly “I can’t breathe,” before Cichuniec approved a dose of the sedative ketamine that was administered by another paramedic, Jeremy Cooper.
McClain’s heart stopped a short time later – and although paramedics revived him, he never regained consciousness and died three days later.
Multiple medical experts blamed McClain’s death on the ketamine.
Cichuniec was the highest-ranking paramedic on scene – and of the three first responders convicted in McClain’s death. He faced the longest possible sentence because second-degree assault is a crime of violence.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis released a statement on Cichuniec's sentence reduction, saying "actions have consequences and no one is above the law."
"While today’s development is deeply disappointing to many Coloradans who called for justice to be served in this case so that no family would ever be forced to go through what Elijah McClain’s family did, I have confidence in and respect for the justice system to hold criminals accountable and this successful prosecution and conviction would not have occurred without the hard work of our Attorney General Phil Weiser," Polis said in the statement.
This story includes previous reporting by Kevin Vaughan and Janet Oravetz.