Peter Cichuniec and Elijah McClain

A paramedic convicted of fatally dosing Elijah McClain with the controlled sedative ketamine will spend five years in prison, according to a sentence doled out in court on Friday (March 1). Peter Cichuniec was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and second degree assault during his trial in December.

The young Elijah was walking home with a plastic bag and iced tea when he was approached by police responding to reports of a suspicious person wearing a ski mask. The harrowing interactions, which were captured by the officers’ body cameras, showed that the Black man was wrestled and placed in a chokehold, causing him to lose consciousness.

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Peter Cichuniec and Elijah McClain