CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT

Former Aurora Officer Sentenced to 14 Months in Death of Elijah McClain

Randy Roedema was captured on body camera footage picking up the 23-year-old and slamming him into the ground.

The only Aurora police officer convicted among the three charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain was sentenced to 14 months and four years of probation in Adams County Jail on Friday afternoon.

On Oct. 12, 2023, a jury convicted now-former cop Randy Roedema of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault for his actions leading up to the 23-year-old’s death. Roedema was one of the five first responders indicted in the case, including fellow Aurora officers Nathan Woodyard and Jason Rosenblatt, who restrained and subdued McClain in a carotid hold, which cuts off oxygen to the brain, after an emergency caller flagged him as wearing a ski mask and looking “sketchy.”

He repeatedly said that he could not breathe, and during the incident, Roedema, who alleged that McClain had attempted to take Rosenblatt’s gun, was captured on body camera footage picking him up and slamming him into the ground. Later that evening, Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec injected McClain with ketamine, leading to his death.

The pair were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide on Dec. 22 and are set to be sentenced on March 1.

At Friday's hearing, the defense team asked for probation only, citing Roedema’s military career, where he earned a Purple Heart and received a good conduct medal twice. They also mentioned that he had no criminal history and expressed remorse for his wrongdoing.

Roedema then took the opportunity to speak, expressing condolences to McClain’s family and saying, “I wish that a bystander would not have made that [911] call.”

Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, said that officers “are not supposed to be murderers, but that is what Randy Roedema became the night he bullied my son to death.” She added, “All the belated apologies in the world can’t remove my son’s blood from Randy Roedema’s hands,” adding that protecting the community was “the furthest thing from his mind” that night.

An attorney for Roedema said during sentencing statements that the officer intends to appeal the decision.