A plea deal in the death of Earl L. Moore Jr. is drawing mixed reactions from family members and civil rights advocates, who say it delivers a measure of accountability but falls short of full justice.
Peter J. Cadigan, 53, a former emergency medical technician with LifeStar Ambulance, pleaded guilty April 24 to involuntary manslaughter in Sangamon County court, just weeks before his scheduled trial. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Moore’s Dec. 18, 2022 death. Cadigan now faces a sentence ranging from probation to five years in prison, with sentencing set for June 23 before Judge Robin Schmidt.
Moore died after being transported face down on a gurney — a position medical experts say can restrict breathing. A forensic pathologist ruled the cause of death as compression and positional asphyxia.
In an interview with Illinois Times, Springfield civil rights leader Teresa Haley said the plea reflects the difficult balance between pursuing the most serious charge and ensuring a conviction.
“I believe both of them should have been charged and held to first-degree murder,” she said. “But when you look at the climate, the time that has passed, and the uncertainty of a jury, sometimes families feel they have to accept something rather than risk getting nothing.”
Haley who is a confidant of Moore’s family, including his mother, Rose Washington, said they agreed to the plea only after extensive discussions and “lots of prayer,” recognizing the possibility that a jury trial could result in an acquittal.
The legal path to the plea deal was shaped in part by an earlier ruling to split the cases against Cadigan and his co-defendant, paramedic Peggy Jill Finley. In December 2023, Schmidt granted defense requests for separate trials, with attorneys arguing a joint trial would create conflicts as each defendant sought to blame the other.
“Each of the defendants will be pointing the finger at each other,” Cadigan’s attorney told the court at the time.
Haley said that decision ultimately weakened the pursuit of the most serious charges.
“When you separate them, they can point fingers at each other,” she told IT. “That made it harder to pursue the strongest possible case.”
Authorities said Moore, 35, was in a distressed and altered mental state when first responders were called to his Springfield home in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2022. After police arrived, Cadigan and Finley placed Moore face down on a stretcher and secured him with straps, despite training that calls for patients to be transported on their backs.
The ambulance ride to HSHS St. John’s Hospital lasted only a few minutes. Moore was unresponsive upon arrival and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
An autopsy determined Moore died from “compressional and positional asphyxia,” with tight restraints and the prone position contributing to his death. Charging documents alleged the EMS workers acted without lawful justification and should have known their actions posed a substantial risk of great bodily harm or death.
Defense attorneys have maintained the case was overcharged and had planned to present expert testimony disputing the cause of death.
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Haley said the family’s decision-making was also influenced by other high-profile cases, including the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, who was shot by a Sangamon County deputy sheriff. In that case, the deputy was initially charged with first-degree murder, but a jury ultimately convicted him of second-degree murder.
“That weighs on people,” Haley said. “You start to ask, what will happen here if we take the risk?”
Despite deep frustration, the family is now focused on sentencing. Haley said they are urging the court to impose the maximum penalty allowed under the plea agreement, noting that even a five-year sentence could be reduced significantly.
“We want the maximum,” she said. “Even then, it may only amount to a few years. But it’s something.”
Haley emphasized that the plea does not bring closure for Moore’s loved ones, who continue to grieve more than three years after his death.
“This is some form of justice,” she said. “But it’s not the justice that we wanted. His family still doesn’t have peace.”
Moore, a former McDonald’s shift manager, is remembered by relatives as a devoted uncle known for his humor and care for younger family members.
“They think about him every day,” Haley said. “Every gathering, every plan — they still say, ‘If Earl was here.’ That doesn’t go away.”
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser declined to publicly discuss the case while sentencing is pending.
Finley’s case remains pending, with a court appearance scheduled the day before Cadigan’s sentencing.
