Illinois EMS Workers Charged: Two EMS workers in Illinois have been charged with murder concerning the death of a 35-year-old man they were taking care of. The man’s body was found on a stretcher with his face down.
LifeStar emergency medical workers Peter Cadigan, 50, and Peggy Finley, 44, were charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday for the death of Earl L. Moore Jr. on December 18. Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright made the announcement.
Wright said that Moore died because he was put in an ambulance face down, and straps were placed on his back and lower body to keep him on the stretcher. Around 2 a.m., police were called to a house on North 11th Street in Springfield, the state capital, because people inside were armed.
Police said in a news release that when they got there, a neighbor told them that the person who called 911 was having “hallucinations due to alcohol withdrawal.” Officers found Moore and “quickly saw that the patient needed medical help,” according to the police.
Moore was told to walk to the ambulance by a female paramedic, but video from his body camera, which was also made public Tuesday, showed that he “was not able to walk and the medical staff did not help him,” police said.
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Moore was taken outside on a stretcher by three police officers who helped him get out of the house. Police said a video from an officer’s body camera showed EMS workers putting Moore on a stretcher while lying down.
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Moore died at 3:14 a.m. at the hospital, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said Tuesday at a news conference. An autopsy showed that Moore died from squishing and being in the wrong position “Due to prone face-down restraint by tightened straps across the back on a paramedic transport cot/stretcher,” Allmon said.
His death was ruled to be a murder. When Moore’s death was reported to the police, Chief Ken Scarlette asked the Illinois State Police to investigate it independently. Wright said that he charged Cadigan and Finley with first-degree murder based on what the ISP finds and the autopsy report says.
Two Illinois EMS workers CHARGED with murder in death of patient strapped face-down on stretcher.
Earl L. Moore Jr died on Dec. 18, shortly after EMS workers strapped him onto a stretcher face-down: @marlenelenthang, @NBCNews https://t.co/otYLM7W5dx pic.twitter.com/pr5AKsSHdi— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 13, 2023
They were kept in the Sangamon County jail on $1 million bail each. Wright told reporters about the charges, saying that the defendants “did not have a legal reason” to transport Moore and put “tight restraints” on his back and lower body.
He told them that they should have known, “based on their training, experience, and the situation around them, that such actions would make it likely that someone would get hurt or die.” Wright said they could spend 20 to 60 years in prison if found guilty.
It wasn’t clear right away if they had lawyers. When asked for a comment, the pair’s lawyer didn’t answer immediately. The next time they are due in court is on January 19. Please share this with your friends if you find it interesting. Visit Lighthousejournal.org for more celebrity updates and breaking news.
For almost 4 years, Jason Martin has been a freelance writer for newspapers, journals, blogs, books, and online material. He covers the most recent news as well as many other topics.