A medical expert on Friday spent hours telling jurors about the declining health of Elijah McClain following his struggle with Aurora police officers but before he was injected with the powerful sedative ketamine.

“He needed medical attention right there on the ground before he was given ketamine. He needed emergent medical attention at that point. So I would have called 911, at that point, to get him to a hospital,” said Dr. David Beuther, from National Jewish Health.

“So I don’t think the right answer was to not have paramedics — the right answer was not to give the ketamine.”

Officers first contacted McClain on Aug. 24, 2019, after a teenage boy called 911 and relayed that he saw McClain wearing a coat and mask and acting “suspicious.” Within seconds, Nathan Woodyard, the first officer to arrive, grabbed McClain. He and officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt then took McClain to the ground in a struggle.

During the struggle, Woodyard used a carotid hold on McClain, a maneuver that caused him to lose consciousness briefly. Afterward, McClain was handcuffed and restrained on the ground for more than 10 minutes.

Later that same night, paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec injected McClain with ketamine. His heart stopped and he later died.

Beuther, a pulmonary and critical care specialist, began his testimony on Thursday. On Friday, prosecutors played video footage from throughout the evening and asked Beuther to describe what he observed about McClain.

They started with a video of McClain making purchases at a Shell convenience store before he encountered officers and Beuther described McClain as “normal” and explained that he did not appear to be experiencing any health issues.

Jurors were then shown body-worn camera footage showing how the incident progressed. Beuther testified that McClain could be seen going downhill and becoming less responsive. He believed that was because of several medical issues.

They included acidosis — or a build-up of acid in the blood from the struggle and hypoxia — or a lack of oxygen. He also said it was evident to him that McClain had swallowed vomit into his lungs — based on evidence that he had thrown up while wearing his mask.

The paramedics are the last two of the five men indicted in McClain’s death to go to trial. In the first trial, a jury returned a split verdict for Aurora officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt.

Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and will be sentenced in January. That same jury acquitted Rosenblatt of all charges.

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