More information has come available about the evidence and the circumstances that led to 2 Springfield EMS workers being charged with first-degree murder.
LifeStar EMS workers Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley are being held in the Sangamon County Jail on $1 million bond each, as the charging documents contends they both knew that their actions in restraining Earl Moore Jr. face down could cause his death or great bodily harm.
Body camera footage released by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office shows Finley yelling at Moore, while both EMS workers appear to show both handling Moore roughly and forcefully tightening restraints on a stretcher while Moore was in a face-down, prone position.
A toxicology report released from the state’s attorney’s office showed that Moore had a blood-alcohol level of .07, just below the legal limit and was also under the influence of cannabis.
According to an autopsy report, Moore is said to have died from asphyxia from the restraints on the stretcher, but did not indicate the intoxicants in his system played a role in his death.
According to WMAY, the Springfield Police Department says its officers who initially responded to the December 18th call to the residence that Moore was found at in the 1100 block of North 11th Street in Springfield observed the two EMS workers responding “indifferently” towards Moore’s condition. Officers were initially met by a resident of the home who said that the caller for police was suffering from hallucinations due to alcohol withdrawal.
Springfield Police are said to have helped Moore, who was said to be physically unable to walk, get to his feet and head outside of the residence and get onto the stretcher for the EMS workers.
The report from Springfield Police says that they deferred medical treatment and care to the EMS workers per Springfield Police Department policy.
WICS Newschannel 20 reports that Peter Cadigan was sued in April 2008 after an ambulance that Cadigan was driving struck and killed seven-year-old Truvonte Edwards, who was riding his bike near the intersection of Phillips and 11th street in Springfield. A civil lawsuit filed by the child’s mother alleged that Cadigan acted negligently. The Sangamon County circuit court found that Cadigan did not have time to stop the ambulance he was driving before it hit and killed Edwards and the lawsuit was dismissed a year later after an appeal. Cadigan was also not criminally charged in the April 2008 case.
Both Cadigan and Finley appeared in Sangamon County Court on Tuesday before Associate Judge Karen S. Tharp who ordered bond be set. A preliminary hearing for both will be held next Thursday.