Two EMS workers charged with murder in patient’s death

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Two people have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a patient who died after riding in an ambulance.

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Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright said in a news conference Tuesday that first-degree murder charges were filed against Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan for the death of Earl Moore Jr., WCIA reported.

Moore was experiencing a hallucinatory episode on Dec. 18 when Lifestar, a private ambulance service, responded to a 911 call at his home, according to NPR Illinois.

Finley and Cadigan were tasked with transporting Moore to a hospital. While in the ambulance, Finley and Cadigan allegedly put Moore on a paramedic stretcher face-down and restrained him, WCIA reported.

An autopsy determined Moore’s cause of death was asphyxia and had been caused by being restrained with straps across his back while face down on the stretcher, according to WICS.

“For me, it’s not about him being a Black man. It could have been a white family,” Springfield NAACP President Teresa Haley told NPR Illinois. “If we were called in, we would have the same opinion. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”

Wright said that a police body camera captured the interaction, and the video shows Moore being placed face down on the gurney, WAND reported.

“What I must say is the Springfield Police Department did an awesome job and without the body cams we wouldn’t have that information,” Haley told WAND.

Lifestar Ambulance Service said they had no comment when asked by both WICS and WAND.

Both suspects were taken to the Sangamon County Jail on a $1 million bond.

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