The family of Elijah McClain may not see the $15,000,000 they are owed by the city of Aurora for his death for months. The money has been paid and is waiting in federal court coffers for the day when  a judge decides its allocation between McClain’s mother and father, Sheneen McClain and Lawayne Mosley. 

The next court hearing on the long road to the award determination will happen in early January. “The court is trying to assist the parties so that they can resolve any remaining conflicts so that the families can close this chapter,” Mosley’s attorney Mari Newman said. 

There’s no love lost between McClain, a single mother who raised Elijah, and Mosley. “How can you not attend a single birthday, not attend any milestones in a person’s life and attempt to profit on their death?” Rathod told The Gazette, speaking of Mosley and Elijah McClain’s relationship. 

According to a statement by Aurora officials, the city’s excess liability insurance policy covered $10 million of the settlement, which is the maximum amount the policy will pay. The remaining $5 million was paid out of the city’s General Fund.

McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, died August 14, 2019 several days after police forcefully detained him and put him in a control hold as he walked home from a convenience store. They were responding to a 911 caller who said that McClain looked “sketchy.” Paramedics called to the scene injected McClain with the sedative ketamine. The dose was too large for McClain to handle.

Last month, one of the two paramedics involved in McClain’s death asked a judge to dismiss the charges against him. Former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic Peter Cichuniec wants the judge to review the grand jury indictment to assess whether there was probable cause to charge him with all eleven counts including manslaughter and negligent homicide.

McClain has been remembered as a gently soul who would use his lunch hour as a massage therapist to play violin for shelter animals. 

The $15 million is reportedly the largest award ever in a police-related incident in Colorado history and one of the biggest in the country.

“There is no amount of money in the world that will make up for losing my son, but hopefully this sends a message to police everywhere that there are consequences for their actions,” said Mosley through his attorney, Mari Newman. “I hope Elijah’s legacy is that police will think twice before killing another innocent person.”

Rathod added, “Mrs. McClain would give away every cent of that 15 million dollars just for one more day with Elijah.”