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Jurors convicted a Denver-area police officer of homicide Thursday and acquitted another of all charges in the 2019聽death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was put in a neck hold, pinned to the ground, and given an overdose of the sedative ketamine by paramedics.

Aurora police officer Randy Roedema was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault by a 12-person jury. They found officer Jason Rosenblatt not guilty.

Mr. Roedema, who kept his head bowed after the verdict was read, faces up to three years in prison on the more serious homicide charge. Mr. Rosenblatt hugged his supporters as he walked out of court.

Mr. McClain鈥檚 mother listened to the verdict from the front row, where Attorney General Phil Weiser had his hand on her shoulder. Sheneen McClain held her right hand high in a raised fist as she left the courtroom. She expressed disappointment in the verdict.

鈥淭his is the divided states of America, and that鈥檚 what happens,鈥� she said as she walked away from the court house.

Mr. McClain had been stopped聽by police following a suspicious person report as he walked home from a convenience store. His name became a rallying cry in protests over racial injustice in policing.

Mr. Roedema and Mr. Rosenblatt were charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and second-degree assault 鈥� all felonies. However, the jury as it went into deliberation was asked to consider a lesser form of assault for Mr. Roedema, the one he was found guilty of.

A third Aurora officer, who applied the neck hold, and two paramedics were indicted on similar charges, but the paramedics have more counts. The officer鈥檚 trial begins Friday with jury selection and the paramedics are scheduled for trial later this year.

Mr. Roedema and another officer who was not charged held down Mr. McClain while paramedics administered the ketamine. Mr. Rosenblatt鈥檚 attorney had pointed out during the trial that his client was not near Mr. McClain at that point in the confrontation.

Prosecutors alleged Mr. Rosenblatt held Mr. McClain鈥檚 legs when he was on the ground but stepped away shortly before the sedative was administered while Mr. Roedema held Mr. McClain鈥檚 shoulder and back. Mr. Roedema, the most senior of the three officers, was often visible in the body camera footage shown over and over again to jurors. At times he seemed to be directing others what to do.

Attorneys for both defendants pointed to the ketamine as the cause of Mr. McClain鈥檚 death. Mr. Roedema鈥檚 attorney said the officers were forced to react when Mr. McClain resisted and allegedly reached for the gun of one of the officers, a claim prosecutors disputed.

Don Sisson, a defense lawyer for Mr. Roedema, has said officers had to act in the moment to protect themselves.

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 get to watch the video over and over and over for three weeks before they get to act,鈥� he said Tuesday during closing statements.

As the split verdict was read, Mr. Roedema鈥檚 wife leaned forward in her seat with her head down as Rosenblatt鈥檚 wife patted her back. Mr. Sisson declined comment after the verdict was issued.

Judge Mark Warner set sentencing for January 5, 2024.

The three officers charged were the first on the scene and the ones who took Mr. McClain down to the ground.

At least three officers not charged were involved in restraining Mr. McClain at some point during the confrontation. One of them, officer Alicia Ward, testified as a prosecution witness that she held her knuckles to the back of Mr. McClain鈥檚 head and was prepared to apply pressure to it. But she said she didn鈥檛 feel like she needed to because she didn鈥檛 consider Mr. McClain a threat at that point.

The case initially did not receive widespread attention, but protests over the killing of George Floyd the following year sparked outrage over Mr. McClain鈥檚 death. His聽pleading words captured on body camera footage, 鈥淚鈥檓 an introvert and I鈥檓 different,鈥� struck a chord.

A local prosecutor in 2019 decided against criminal charges because the coroner鈥檚 office could not determine exactly how the 23-year-old massage therapist died. But Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered state Attorney General Phil Weiser鈥檚 office to take another look at the case in 2020, and the officers and paramedics were聽indicted in 2021聽by a grand jury.

The killings of Mr. McClain, Mr. Floyd, and others triggered a wave of legislation that put limits on the use of neck holds in more than two dozen states. Colorado now tells paramedics not to give ketamine to people suspected of having a controversial condition known as聽excited delirium,聽which has symptoms including increased strength that has been associated with racial bias against Black men.

Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo said the department respected the jury鈥檚 verdict, adding 鈥渨e must be committed to the rule of law.鈥�

Mr. Roedema and Mr. Rosenblatt did not testify in their defense at trial. Their attorneys blamed Mr. McClain鈥檚 death on the ketamine, which doctors said is what ultimately killed him.

However, prosecutors argued that the officers鈥� restraint of Mr. McClain contributed. Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber told jurors that Mr. Roedema and Mr. Rosenblatt also encouraged the paramedics to give Mr. McClain ketamine by describing him as having symptoms of excited delirium that they had learned about in training. But he said the officers did not tell them anything about Mr. McClain鈥檚 complaints that he could not breathe, something prosecutors said happened six times.

Sheneen McClain sat with attorneys for the state in the front row of the courtroom during the trial, part of her quest to remind the mostly white jury that her son was a real person. She watched the encounter being played over and over again along with graphic photos from his autopsy.

During testimony that stretched over three weeks, witnesses were limited to offering what they 鈥減erceived鈥� someone to be doing or saying in the video. The video clips did not always provide a complete picture of what was happening, but Judge Warner said the jurors were the only ones who could decide what they meant, just like any other piece of evidence.

McClain was stopped Aug. 24, 2019,聽while listening to music聽and wearing a mask that covered most of his face. He asked to be left alone and had not been accused of committing any crime.

The encounter quickly escalated, with Officers Nathan Woodyard, Roedema and Rosenblatt taking Mr. McClain to the ground, and Mr. Woodyard putting him in a neck hold and pressing against his carotid artery, temporarily rendering him unconscious. The officers told investigators they took Mr. McClain down after hearing Mr. Roedema say to another officer, 鈥淗e grabbed your gun dude.鈥�

The initial statement was heard on the body camera footage but exactly what happened is difficult to see.

Mr. McClain went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and was pronounced dead three days later.

The doctor who performed Mr. McClain鈥檚 autopsy, Stephen Cina, has said he died of complications from the ketamine while also noting that occurred after the forcible restraint. However, Dr. Cina was not able to say if the death was a homicide or an accident or if the officers鈥� actions contributed to Mr. McClain鈥檚 death.

Dr. Roger Mitchell, another forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy and body camera video, found their actions did play a role. He labeled the death a homicide.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.