(23-year old Elijah McClain)
By Nia Bender
AURORA – We’ve learned more details about the investigation into the death of 23-year old Elijah McClain. McClain died in August of 2019 after an encounter with Aurora police. He was walking home from a convenience store when someone called 911 to report a suspicious person.
According to the report, within minutes of contacting the 23-year old, they placed him in two chokeholds, and minutes later, paramedics administered ketamine. Hee had a heart attack shortly after and died days later. The report says the events that lead to his death unfolded quickly, and the post-event investigation was flawed and failed to meaningfully develop a fulsome record.
Neither the caller nor any of the officers involved identified a crime that McClain was suspected of committing at the time that he first came to the officers’ attention. A separate investigation into McClain’s death by a Grand Jury is also underway on the state level.
