Two Illinois paramedics accused of killing a patient appeared in court Thursday, as the family of the victim announced a wrongful death lawsuit.
Peter J. Cadigan, 50, and Peggy Jill Finley, 45, are facing first-degree murder charges following the death of a man in their care last month. They are being held in the Sangamon County Jail on $1 million bonds. Both defendants, who appeared via video in the Sangamon County Courthouse in Springfield, did not waive their right to a preliminary hearing. The judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for Friday at 9 a.m. local time.
Amid the court proceedings, the family of the victim — 35-year-old Earl Moore Jr. — filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Cadigan, Finley and their employer, LifeStar Ambulance Service, over what the family’s attorney described as “barbaric” actions.
“We filed a wrongful death lawsuit this morning because we want to make sure this family gets whole justice, not just partial justice,” prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, told reporters during a press briefing Thursday afternoon. “They treated him so inhumanely. I guess they said Earl didn’t matter. But Earl matters.”
The paramedics were responding to a call for assistance with a man “suffering from hallucinations due to alcohol withdrawal” at a residence in Springfield on Dec. 18, 2022, just after 2 a.m. local time, according to a press release from the Springfield Police Department. The police officers on scene were wearing body cameras, and video from that night was released last week by the Sangamon County States Attorneys Office.
In the video, Finley can be heard yelling at a Black man on the floor, who identified himself as Moore, to “sit up” and “quit acting stupid.” She is also heard telling Moore, “We ain’t carrying you,” and, “I am seriously not in the mood for this dumb [stuff],” using an expletive in her remark. Eventually, as the video shows, the officers on scene help Moore walk outside to where an ambulance and a stretcher await him. Finley and Cadigan are then seen strapping the patient onto the stretcher in what police called “a prone position,” or lying facedown.
This combination of booking photos provided by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office shows Peter J. Cadigan, left, and Peggy Jill Finley in Springfield, Illinois, on Jan. 9, 2023. The two paramedics face first-degree murder charges following the death of a patient in their care, Earl L. Moore, Jr., on Dec. 18, 2022.
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