A newly released and amended autopsy report for Elijah McClain, an unnamed Black man who died in the custody of Colorado police in August 2019 while walking home from a convenience store, reveals the 23-year-old’s actual cause of death. Previously, McClain’s cause of death was listed as “undetermined,” but subsequent lawsuits from numerous local media outlets produced the amended report, which showed his cause of death to be from “complications of ketamine administration following forcible restraint.” In the new report, which instead lists the method of death as undetermined, the Adams County coroner Monica Broncucia-Jordan describes the dosage of ketamine as too much for McClain, resulting in overdose. “The investigation suggests that [McClain] received an intramuscular dose of ketamine that was higher than recommended for his weight,” the Adams County coroner report read. “I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine.” Five emergency personnel involved in the case are scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 4.
