AURORA, Colo. — Since Aug. 24, 2019, Elijah McClain's mother has remained steadfast in her fight for justice. At Jeremy Cooper's sentencing, the third and final one related to Elijah's death, it was clear that her pursuit has not gotten any easier.
"I have seen nothing in Cooper that shows he regrets his actions, from his lies on video and his attempts to cover up being an accomplice to my son's murder, to the lack of guilt in his eyes," Sheneen McClain said at the Adams County sentencing hearing Friday. "The trials have been exhausting, but worth it. Because I stand here for truth. I stand here for love. I stand here for light. I stand here for justice and I stand here for my son, Elijah McClain."
Cooper, the former Aurora Fire Rescue paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine before his death, was sentenced to 14 months of work release and four months of probation. Judge Mark Warner also ordered him to serve 100 hours of community service. He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide but acquitted on other charges in December of last year.
Before he was sentenced, Cooper had 10 people speak on his behalf before speaking for himself. He began his statement by speaking about Elijah, at which point McClain and a few others left the room.
She missed the rest of his pleas to the judge before re-entering the courtroom to give her impact statement, in which she called Cooper a "bully with a badge," and said her son was failed by paramedics.
"Jeremy Cooper heard my son talking and was there for my son's last words but Jeremy Cooper just stood there like a drug dealer waiting for his sale," McClain said. "When did firefighters become drug dealers who are paid by the city governments to forcibly cause an unwanted overdose?"
Once the judge gave Cooper his sentence, McClain raised her fist as she walked out of the courtroom to address the media.
"America is full of hate. It's full of racism. It's full of inequality," she said. "Nothing here is balanced for everyone. They don't care about us. They never did."
She said her son's legacy was what he made it — and the legacy of those who were responsible for his death will be remembered as such.
> Video below: RAW: Sheneen McClain gives statement during sentencing of former paramedic
"It doesn't matter what anybody else do to wipe the blood of my son off their hands. It's already there. Stained," she said.
McClain has been outspoken about her disappointment in the five trials of the paramedics and officers accused in her son's death, and the judge's decision Friday was no different. McClain said the fact that it's over — the fact that she will no longer have to sit inside that Adams County courtroom — is the only form of closure that Cooper's sentencing gives her.
"I'm done with that. Next," she told the media.
McClain added that she believes God put her in the position she's in for a purpose: to generate change.
"Long live Elijah," she said before walking away from the courtroom building, raising her fist the same way she did as she walked out of it.
In March, fellow paramedic Peter Cichuniec was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of criminally negligent homicide following a joint trial with Cooper. Both paramedics were the last of five people to go to trial in connection to Elijah McClain's death.
In the first trial, a split verdict was given for Aurora officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt. Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault, and Rosenblatt was acquitted of all charges. Roedema began serving his 14-month-long jail sentence in March and has recently appealed his conviction.
In a separate trial, a jury acquitted Nathan Woodyard of the charges he faced.
> Video below: 'No matter what Elijah won' | Sheneen McClain speaks after former paramedic sentenced
Janet Oravetz contributed to this story.
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