Illinois paramedics sued over man’s death, both charged with murder

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois. The family of an Illinois man whose death sparked murder charges against two paramedics who tied him face down to a stretcher filed a lawsuit against them and their employer, lawyers said Thursday.

Ben Crump, whose firm often handles civil rights cases, is representing Earl Moore’s family, 35, in a lawsuit against Peter Cadigan, Peggy Finlay and LifeStar Ambulance Service. Speaking to reporters, Crump said police footage of paramedics interacting with Moore showed “barbaric” behavior.

“We have seen this in many tragedies in America,” Crump said, referring to police killings of blacks, including George Floyd. “It is so tragic that now this scheme seems to be extended to first responders, to ambulances. When you watch this video, the reason it’s so shocking is because they don’t pay attention to Earl.”

Prosecutors separately charged Cadigan and Finley with first-degree murder, charging them with tightly tying Moore to a stretcher after Springfield police, who had originally answered an emergency call at Moore’s home, requested an ambulance. Under Illinois law, a first-degree murder charge can be brought when the defendant “knows that such acts create a high probability of death or serious bodily injury.”

Moore’s mother, Rose Washington, said the loss of her only son was unimaginably painful.

“They tied him up like some kind of animal and killed him,” she said. “My child suffocated because of their actions.”

Edward Ansell, an attorney for Cadigan, said he had not yet seen the suit, but a civil suit was pending. Regarding the murder charge, Ansell said he did not believe that prosecutors had sufficient evidence against Cadigan.

W. Scott Hanken, Finley’s attorney, also called the criminal charge baseless, stating, “What happened may be negligence, but it is not a criminal act and certainly not first-degree murder.”

The woman, who answered the call at the LifeStar ER office and did not give her name, declined to comment.

Emergency medicine experts said the Springfield case is a rare case in which prosecutors bring criminal charges against emergency care providers. Another notable example is pending in Colorado, where a grand jury in 2021 indicted two paramedics along with three police officers on manslaughter and other charges in the death of black Elijah McClain.

Cadigan and Finlay remain in the Sangamon County Jail on $1 million bail each. They appeared on video for a brief court appearance on Thursday, but no further details of the case were discussed. They were supposed to show up again on Friday morning.

After the Sangamon County Attorney’s office filed charges this month, Springfield police released videos showing a woman at Moore’s home telling police that he was in a state of alcohol withdrawal and was hallucinating. The police then call an ambulance.

When Finlay arrives, she enters the bedroom, where Moore is lying on the floor. Soon after, she yells at him to sit down and repeatedly asks for his date of birth.

“Sit down,” she says. “You know what, I don’t play. Sit down. Stop acting stupid. Sit down. Sit down now. I won’t play with you tonight.”

“You will have to walk because we are not carrying you,” she adds.

After leaving the house, the video shows Cadigan forcefully placing Moore on his stomach on a stretcher as both paramedics tighten the straps on his back.

Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlett said he asked the Illinois State Police to investigate after learning that Moore had died after arriving at the hospital. The autopsy report lists Moore’s cause of death as homicide by compression and positional asphyxia.

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