Two Illinois emergency workers have been charged with first degree murder for improperly restraining a patient.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright announced in a news conference Tuesday first-degree murder charges for Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan in connection to the death of 35-year-old Earl Moore Jr. Both Finley and work for Lifestar, a private ambulance company with an office in Springfield.
Springfield Police said in December 2022, Earl Moore Jr. called 911 because he saw multiple people inside with guns. Officers then met someone outside who claimed Moore Jr. was experiencing a hallucinatory episode and needed medical assistance.
Finley and Cadigan were called by Springfield Police to transport Moore Jr. to HSHS St. John’s Hospital, where the EMS workers put him on a paramedic stretcher face-down.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon classified his death as a ‘homicide’ from asphyxiation because he was restrained face-down by Finley and Cadigan.
“Knowing based upon their training, experience, and the surrounding circumstances that such acts would create bodily harm and/or death, in violation of the Criminal Code of the state of Illinois, potential penalties faced by both defendants include a range of 20 to 60 years in the Department of Corrections,” Wright said.
The body camera footage of the EMS workers is expected to be released later Tuesday. Both Cadigan and Finley were arrested Monday.
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