Prosecutor says officer who used neck hold on Elijah McClain should be convicted in his death

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado prosecutor told jurors Friday a police officer who stopped Elijah McClain, put the 23-year-old Black man in a neck hold and then abandoned him as his condition deteriorated should be convicted of manslaughter in his 2019 death. Aurora Officer Nathan Woodyard is among three officers and two paramedics charged in the case, which drew renewed interest and sparked protests following the 2020 death of George Floyd. Woodyard’s defense attorneys blamed McClain’s death on a ketamine overdose given by the paramedics. The first trial against the other two officers ended in a split verdict with one acquitted and one convicted of homicide and third degree assault.