Jurors deliberating in manslaughter trial of officer who used neck hold on Elijah McClain

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Jurors began deliberations Friday in the case of a Colorado police officer who stopped Elijah McClain as he walked home from the store and put the 23-year-old Black man in a neck hold. A prosecutor told jurors Nathan Woodyard abandoned McClain as his condition deteriorated should be convicted of manslaughter in his 2019 death. He’s 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.