AURORA, Colo. — Two former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics convicted in connection with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain will be retried following a ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals.

In September 2021, a statewide grand jury indicted Cooper and fellow paramedic Peter Cichuniec in McClain’s death. They went to trial together and were both convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

Both appealed their convictions separately and both had their convictions reversed and sent back for new trials for the criminally negligent homicide charge. 

The appeals court agreed there was an error in the instruction of the standard of care as it related to the charge of criminally negligent homicide and tossed out those convictions.

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