Paramedics charged with murder after patient lying face down on stretcher dies

To: Theodora Curvalis, Danny Connolly

Post: January 15, 2023 / 1:33 PM CST

Has been updated: January 15, 2023 / 1:33 PM CST

Springfield, Illinois (WCIA) — Two Springfield, Illinois paramedics were charged with first-degree murder after a patient they transported in an ambulance died.

Peggy Finley and Peter Caddigan have been charged in connection with the death of 35-year-old Earl Moore Jr., Sangamon County State Attorney Dan Wright announced Tuesday.

Finley and Lifestar work for a private ambulance company.

Springfield Police said Earl Moore Jr. called 911 in December 2022 after seeing multiple people with guns. Officers then met someone outside who claimed Moore Jr. was experiencing a hallucinogenic episode and needed medical assistance.

Finley and Caddigan were called by Springfield police to take Moore Jr. to the hospital. A state attorney said paramedics put him prone on a stretcher.

Coroner Jim Allmon classified his death as a “homicide” by asphyxiation.

“Based on their training, experience, and circumstances, both defendants were confronted because they knew that such conduct would cause bodily harm and/or death, in violation of Illinois criminal law. Possible penalties include a range of 20 to 60 years spent in the Department of Corrections,” Wright said.

One of the EMS workers, Peter Cuddygan, said: previously investigated for death When the ambulance he was driving hit a child. The family filed a wrongful death suit. However, the judge ruled that the caddy gun was not responsible for not stopping in time.