Paramedics facing murder charges and lawsuit after man dies on stretcher
Earl Warren's autopsy report listed his cause of death as 'compressional and positional asphyxiation' from the way he was lying on the stretcher.
Two paramedics are facing murder charges and a lawsuit after strapping a man face-down in a stretcher.
On December 18, Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley responded to a medical emergency at Earl Moore Jr’s home in Springfield, Illinois.
Body camera footage shows that Springfield Police Department officers arrived on the scene first, where a woman told them Earl was hallucinating from alcohol withdrawal.
The officers called the paramedics, who tried to take Moore to a hospital for treatment.
More body camera footage shows Finley yelling at Moore as he laid on the floor in a bedroom, asking him to sit up and repeat his birth date.
‘I am not playing with you tonight,’ Finley says. ‘You’re gonna have to walk cause we ain’t carrying you.’
Footage from outside the home captured the moment the paramedics place Earl face-down on the stretcher. ‘Alright Earl, this is getting a little silly man,’ Cadigan says as he slumps him over the gurney. The two paramedics can then be seen strapping him in together.
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Moore was dead. His autopsy report listed his cause of death as ‘compressional and positional asphyxiation’ from the way he was lying on the stretcher.
The Springfield Police Department ordered an internal investigation into the officers’ conduct. ‘The officers, who are not emergency medical professionals, are not trained nor equipped to provide the necessary medical treatment or to transport patients in this type of situation,’ Police Chief Ken Scarlette stated.
Almost a month after the incident, prosecutors charged Cadigan and Finley with first-degree murder. They are alleging the paramedics restricted his breathing by strapping him in too tightly.
Attorneys for the two paramedics have pushed back against the criminal charges, claiming prosecutors don’t have probable cause. ‘What happened may be negligent, but it’s not a criminal act and certainly not first-degree murder,’ Finley’s lawyer W Scott Hanken said.
Cadigan and Finley were arrested and booked at Sangamon County Jail, where they are being held on $1million bail.
On Thursday, Moore’s family announced a lawsuit against Cadigan, Finley, and the company they work for, LifeStar Ambulance Services.
‘We want to make sure that this family gets whole justice, not just partial justice. Just like we did with the family of George Floyd and the family of Ahmaud Arbery,’ said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family in the civil case.
‘Tragically in America, we have seen a pervasive pattern of police not have the same respect, the same consideration, the same professionalism extended to people of color, especially black men,’ Crump said. ‘It’s just so tragic that now this pattern seems to be spilling over to the first responders.’
‘When you look at that video, the reason it’s so shocking is because they offer Earl no consideration,’ Crump said. ‘From the moment they get there, it’s a hostile encounter. And it’s not like Earl is threatening them or making them feel in fear. He is down there screaming out for help.’
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