Colorado Politics

Report: Coroner met with Aurora police representatives prior to releasing McClain autopsy

The Adams County coroner met with Aurora police who were investigating Elijah McClain’s death prior to issuing an autopsy report saying his cause of death was “undetermined,” CPR reports.

The news outlet obtained records also showing that Aurora police were there during the autopsy, and that the pathologist who performed the autopsy hypothesized to Coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan about an undetermined cause of death prior to reviewing other pieces of evidence.

McClain, who was 23 years old, died in August 2019, several days after Aurora police officers placed him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine. Racial justice protests following the May death of George Floyd also invoked McClain’s case, given that the local district attorney declined to charge the officers involved. His decision owed in part to the inconclusive autopsy.

There are multiple ongoing investigations into McClain’s death, including by Attorney General Phil Weiser. McClain’s family has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Aurora and the officers involved, alleging a deprivation of rights under U.S. law.

CPR found that 0.1% of fatalities in 2019 had an undetermined cause of death in Colorado. Although the coroner did not seek a second medical opinion, Broncucia-Jordan told the station that it was routine to have the involvement of law enforcement in autopsies stemming from criminal cases.

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