AURORA, Colo. — The former Aurora officer convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain is off the force.
The Aurora Police Department terminated Randy Roedema’s employment following Thursday’s conviction, according to APD spokesperson Ryan Luby.
Roedema had been suspended from the force prior to the jury’s decision. They found officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty of all charges in connection with the fatal arrest on Aug. 24, 2019.
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Jury finds one Aurora officer guilty, one not guilty in 1st Elijah McClain trial
McClain was stopped in Aurora while walking home from a store wearing a face mask after a 911 caller reported a "sketchy" man in the neighborhood that night. McClain was put in a neck hold and pinned down by police before being injected by paramedics with a powerful sedative.
That neck hold, which lasted only seconds, was at the center of the case. But ketamine administration by paramedics was argued by the defense as the “ultimate cause of death here.”
Roedema, who kept his head bowed after the verdict was read, faces up to three years in prison on the more serious homicide charge. Rosenblatt hugged his supporters as he walked out of court.
Roedema and Rosenblatt were charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault — all felonies. However, the jury as it went into deliberation was asked to consider a lesser form of assault for Roedema, the one he was found guilty of.
Judge Mark Warner set sentencing for January 5, 2024.
Two trials remain in a case that has transformed Aurora and the state as a whole.
The trial against Aurora Officer Nathan Woodyard’s begins Friday for the charges against him of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault. He is accused of putting McClain in the chokehold that rendered him unconscious before Aurora paramedics administered a heavy dose of ketamine.
The trials for the two Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics — Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper — will begin Nov. 17 and 27, respectively, for charges of reckless manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault, plus sentence enhancers. The paramedics are accused of injecting a significant amount of ketamine into McClain, which officials said led to him suffering from cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.
He was taken off life support three days later.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
