A former Colorado police officer was sentenced to 14 months in prison for negligent homicide and third-degree assault in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. Randy Roedema, who was fired from the Aurora Police Department in October after he was convicted, helped hold down McClain while paramedics injected him with the powerful sedative ketamine. McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, died days later, USA Today reports. Roedema will likely serve both sentences concurrently because they involve the same actions.
Judge Mark Warner sentenced Roedema for a third-degree assault conviction, ordering that some of that time may be served as work release toward 200 hours — or five weeks — of community service. The judge also sentenced Roedema to four years of probation for negligent homicide. A local prosecutor initially declined to bring criminal charges over McClain's death. After the case gained renewed attention amid national protests over the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Roedema was indicted along with two other police officers and two paramedics involved in the stop, a rarity for both police and paramedics. The paramedics were convicted last month and the other officers were acquitted last year.