Peter Cichuniec, one of two paramedics convicted of criminally negligent homicide in connection with Elijah McClain's death in 2019, was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison with a three-year period of parole.
Leading up to McClain's death — described in a revised statement by the coroner as being due to ketamine administration following forcible restraint — Cichuniec arrived at the scene where the 23-year-old had been stopped by three Colorado police officers responding to a call about a "suspicious person" as he was walking home from a convenience store and, acting to sedate him, Cichuniec administered "a dose of the powerful sedative ketamine appropriate for a 200-pound person, even though he weighed just 143 pounds," as described by CNN. En route to the hospital after this, McClain suffered a heart attack and ultimately died three days later.
