Family of Elijah McClain Reaches Settlement with City of Aurora

The family of Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado massage therapist who died in 2019 after being placed in a chokehold and injected with a sedative during a police stop, has reached a settlement with the city of Aurora.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the city confirmed that Elijah’s loved ones resolved their August, 11 2020, civil rights lawsuit against Aurora — which sought damages and listed the city, 12 police officers, two Fire Department paramedics, and the department’s medical director as defendants.

In a statement, city representative Ryan Luby said officials would sign the agreement after family members agreed on how the settlement money would be allocated. For now, Luby said both parties could not disclose the amount of the settlement “until those issues are resolved and the agreement is in its final form.”

Per a court filing, on October 8, Judge N. Reid Neureiter held a hearing to discuss how the lawsuit would be resolved.

In a statement, Mari Newman, the lawyer for Elijah’s father Lawayne Mosley, said the settlement brought some relief to Mosley, though “nothing will bring back his son Elijah, who he loved dearly.”

“He is hopeful that this settlement with Aurora, and the criminal charges against the officers and medics who killed Elijah, will allow his family and the community to begin to heal,” Newman said.

Iris Halpern, who is representing Elijah’s mother Sheneen McClain, said in a telephone interview that Sheneen “feels that at least some justice has been done” but is more concerned about the forthcoming criminal case.

“Elijah McClain is not with us, and her family is going to have to live with that forever,” Halpern said in a quote obtained by The New York Times.

Halpern also said the court would determine how to allocate the funds between “Ms. McClain, the parent who raised Elijah McClain by herself, and Lawayne Mosley, the absent biological father.”

In September, a grand jury indicted officers Randy Roedema, Nathan Woodyard, and Jason Rosenblatt, along with fire department paramedic Jeremy Cooper and fire Lt. Peter Cichuniec on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for their involvement in McClain’s arrest.

Additionally, Roedema and Rosenblatt were each charged with second-degree assault with intent to cause bodily injury and one count of a crime of violence related to the assault charge. Cooper and Cichuniec also each face three counts of second-degree assault.

On the night of August 24, 2019, Woodyard, Rosenblatt, and Roedema approached Elijah after a 911 caller deemed Elijah suspicious because he was “flailing his arms” and wearing a ski mask for his anemia while walking home from a store.

After officers claimed Elijah “resisted” arrest, Woodyard allegedly applied a “carotid control hold” around Elijah’s neck.

According to audio recordings from the stop, Elijah told cops, “I’m an introvert and I’m different… I’m just different. That’s all. That’s all I was doing. I’m so sorry.”

When cops held Elijah down, paramedics gave him a “standard medication” — reportedly 500 mg of ketamine — to reduce his agitation.

En route to the hospital, Elijah went into cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead less than a week later on August 30, 2019.

Per his autopsy, a combination of a narrowed coronary artery and physical exertion contributed to his death.