What to know about Elijah McClain’s death and the criminal trial of two officers

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — The trial of two Denver-area police officers charged in Elijah McClain’s death resumes Tuesday. Prosecutors are expected to press their case that the officers’ excessive force transformed the late-night stop of the Black man in the summer of 2019 into a fatal encounter. Criminal charges were brought in 2021 after a national racial reckoning in the murder of George Floyd galvanized criticism over law enforcement abuses against Black people. Defense attorneys argue the officers were correctly performing their duties when paramedics gave McClain an overdose of a powerful sedative that led to his death.