Delay in pleas from first responders charged in death of Elijah McClain

A judge in Adams County agreed to a delay in entering pleas from the five defendants charged in the death of Elijah McClain. The charges they face include felony manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

All five also waived the formal reading of charges in court. There was a discussion that attorneys may ask to have the cases separated but asked for more time to file any motion. All five are due back in court on Nov. 4 for a second arraignment.

Jason Rosenblatt, Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard are the Aurora police officer who contacted McClain after receiving a call about a suspicious man. They ended up placing him in a chokehold.

Rosenblatt has been fired because of his reaction to a photo related to the event.

Paramedics Pete Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper are the ones who administered a powerful sedative, ketamine.

McClain suffered cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead before being taken off life support on Aug. 30, 2019, six days after the violent encounter.

In 2020, his mother challenged social justice protesters to include her son's death in their dialogue over the death of George Floyd.

That led to a renewed focus on his death, leading eventually to a 32-count grand jury indictment against the five men after a lengthy investigation.

It also led to police reforms in Colorado, including a law that bans chokeholds unless a police officer is legally justified in using deadly force.