Randy Roedema, former Aurora Police Officer has been convicted for the death of Elijah McClaine in 2019 and has been sentenced to serve 14 Months in Adam’s County Jail and 4 years on probation. The 911 operators received a call regarding a suspicious person walking down the street in August 2019. When the officers arrived at Colfax Avenue and Billings Street, they saw Elijah carrying groceries, and wearing a ski mask. The 23-year-old died shortly after officers, Roedema, Jason Rosenblatt, and Nathan Woodyard restrained Elijah violently. This was captured on the Police-Body Cam and the jury indicated the same. This case received a lot of publicity, leading to reforms and protests against the Aurora Police.
“I cannot help but contemplate all the different scenarios that could’ve taken place that evening that may have resulted in a different outcome,” said Roedema before his sentence. Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, while Rosenblatt was found “not guilty” of manslaughter and assault.
Woodyard was found not guilty on November 6, 2023, of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Woodyard has reportedly returned to the department after being acquitted of the charges. Two Aurora Paramedics, Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide by the jury as they injected the victim with Ketamine.
Sheneen McClain, mother of Elijah McClain said “Our communities cannot know peace until we see the justice departments hold their own enforcers accountable,”. “My son will never be a dad, an uncle, or a grandfather. Randy Roedema stole my son’s life. All the belated apologies in the world cannot remove my son’s blood from Randy’s hands.”
Seeing the person one gave birth to, die so brutally is the most pain any parent can feel. A mother holds her child for 9 Long Months and then spends years nurturing and caring for them. Sheneen lost her son in a snap of the fingers. Why did this happen? Can a person not walk down the road without being charged? Will a simple sorry make Elijah’s family not miss him? Will it reduce the sorrow they are feeling? No, it can never. The McClains lost their son to the Police’s negligence and nothing can ever change this.
It took 4 years for the judicial system to thoroughly examine the case and sentence the offender. Why did it take so long? Was the judicial system finding ways to protect an integral part of their system, the police from being arrested for his wrongdoing? Police have been expressing their brutality towards alleged victims since long before 1990.
The long duration taken to serve justice to 59 incidents of police brutality over a decade has made the public question the judicial system and accuse the system’s justice to be ‘UNEVEN AND UNPREDICTABLE’. These cases have also made people believe that ‘race matters’. According to researchers, racial prejudices often determine the decision made. So, has justice been served? Has Elijah McClain been served justice?
