Two paramedics have been charged with the murder of a 35-year-old man who they had been called out to save following a medical emergency.
Peter Cadigan, 50, and 40-year-old Peggy Finley were the paramedics dispatched to a residence in Illinois following a police investigation that found a man suffering from a hallucinatory episode, per Fox News.
According to a press release obtained by People, 35-year-old Earl L. Moore Jr. was suffering from hallucinations due to alcohol withdrawal.
The paramedics arrived just after 2:00 AM on December 18 where they were tasked with getting Moore into an ambulance so he could receive further treatment.
As reported by NPR, Moore was taken by Lifestar, a private ambulance service, to HSHS St. John’s Hospital’s emergency room where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
On Tuesday (January 10), Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright announced that Cadigan and Finley were being charged in connection to the death of Moore.
The paramedics allegedly placed the patient face down on a stretcher and then proceeded to tie him down incorrectly by his back and lower body.
An autopsy report, via Fox, stated that Moore died from: "Compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone face-down restraint on a paramedic transportation cot stretcher by tightened straps across the back."
"Following the arrival of EMS, Earl Moore Jr. became the victim of acts which caused his death at the hands of individuals called by police to provide emergency medical care," Attorney Wright said in a press conference.
Wright added that the pair's extensive training mixed with their experience would have allowed them to know that placing the patient face down in such a way "would create a substantial probability of great bodily harm or death."
The NPR report continued that Springfield NAACP President Teresa Haley viewed the bodycam footage of the police who were present at the scene, and it showed Cadigan and Finley lacking compassion and bringing a "hostile attitude" toward Moore.
"For me, it’s not about him being a Black man. It could have been a white family. If we were called in, we would have the same opinion. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," she said.
If convicted, the parademics could face between 20 and 60 years behind bars.