Aurora Opens New Investigation into Elijah McClain’s Death

Approved on Monday, July 6th

Newsroom El Comercio de Colorado

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During its regular session on July 6th, the Aurora City Council will consider creating a new investigation into the death of young African American Elijah McClain. “On July 6th, we will first vote to approve another independent investigation, and later approve who will be in charge of it,” said Mike Coffman, mayor and president of City Council in Aurora.

Coffman explains that the city has been working on the McClain case since the beginning of 2020. “We were very close to starting a second investigation several weeks ago. However, some members of the City Council objected to the person who was to be in charge. This person previously had a career in law enforcement, which some of the council members thought would detract from the credibility of the investigation,” said Coffman.

Coordination with Phil Weiser

Mayor Coffman believes that the person to be appointed will work alongside Phil Weiser, Colorado’s Attorney General. By order of Governor Jared Polis, Attorney Weiser will act as “special prosecutor” for the McClain case. “We will work with the Attorney General’s office to make sure that both independent investigations complement each other,” Coffman says.

And he continued, “It will be a joint investigation, and we will each investigate different aspects of the case. This coordination with the Attorney General’s office has not been fully finalized. We are sure the two investigations will work together and not separately.” Coffman also indicated that work to reform the city police will continue in order to prevent cases like McClain’s.

More Details

Councilwoman Crystal Murillo agreed with the mayor’s statements. Murillo confirms that the City Council will approve the new investigation and that coordination with Prosecutor Weiser will occur. “These will be different investigations. Weiser is going to focus on the criminal side while our research will focus on city policies and whether or not those policies were followed. We want to have a detailed and objective description of the events of the case,” Murillo states.

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