Second Colorado officer acquitted for 2019 killing of Elijah McClain

A Colorado jury on Monday acquitted Nathan Woodyard, a police officer involved in the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man.

McClain’s death helped ignite nationwide protests against police brutality and racism in 2020.

The decision follows a state ruling last month in which another officer involved in the encounter was acquitted, while a third was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault.

Police stopped McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, on 24 August, 2019, after a 911 caller reported a “sketchy” person walking home from a convenience store.

Officers put the Colorado man in a carotid hold neck restraint, knocking him unconscious.

He was later injected by paramedics with ketamine, a strong sedative, and died in the hospital few days later.

Nathan Woodyard was the first officer to stop the 23-year-old, putting his hands on the unarmed man without explaining the reason for the stop.

Mr Woodyard, one of multiple officers who attempted to put McClain in a carotid hold, is currently suspended.

The officer, who had been on the Aurora police force for about two years at the time of the stop, argued that the paramedics who sedated McClain were responsible for his death.

“There are people guilty of killing Elijah McClain but they are not here today,” an attorney for the officer told jurors. “Nathan Woodyard did not kill Elijah McClain.”

The Adams County coroner held in a revised 2022 report that McClain died from ketamine administration following a forcible restraint, but that the ultimate cause of death was “undetermined.”

At trial, prosecutors brought forth their own expert who argued the combination of neck holds and sedation killed McClain.

“Both the restraint and the ketamine is what killed Elijah McClain,” forensic pathologist Roger Mitchell testified.

The state also argued the officer failed to follow APD training encouraging empathy, listening, mandated de-escalation, and medical follow-up after placing someone in a carotid hold, which temporarily cuts off the blood supply to their brain.

“Four years later he has empathy,” state attorney Jason Slothouber argued. “But the version of the defendant that Elijah McClain got is the one who caused his death by ignoring his training, ignoring Elijah’s claims and pleas for help, that he can’t breathe and that is exactly the story he was trained to avoid. That is why he’s guilty.”

This is breaking news story and will be updated with new information.