Aurora Police Officer Nathan Woodyard has been acquitted on charges of reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the case of Elijah McClain's 2019 death. The verdict was reached after an 11-day trial, marking the second of three criminal trials in the case. The first trial acquitted former officer Jason Rosenblatt and found officer Randy Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault.
McClain, a young, unarmed Black man, was stopped by Woodyard in August 2019. The officer placed McClain in a carotid hold, which led to McClain's hospitalization and subsequent death. The case was revived following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, leading to charges against five police officers and paramedics involved in the incident.
The prosecution argued that Woodyard's use of the carotid hold led to health complications that made McClain more vulnerable to the sedative ketamine, which was administered by paramedics and ultimately caused his heart to stop. The defense, however, argued that Woodyard wasn't present during crucial moments in the confrontation and that the ketamine administered by EMTs was responsible for McClain's death.
The initial autopsy didn't determine exactly how McClain died, but the findings were changed to blame the sedative ketamine in 2021 after reviewing body camera footage. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office is prosecuting the officers and paramedics involved in McClain's death, stated that he remains undeterred in his pursuit of accountability and justice for McClain and his family.
The Aurora Police Department issued a statement respecting the verdict, as did Sheneen McClain, Elijah McClain's mother. The trials have been among the most consequential police accountability cases since the death of George Floyd.