“Justice was denied”

Through her sobs, the mother of Earl Moore Jr. told a Sangamon County judge how the death of her 35-year-old son at the hands of two ambulance company workers in 2022 has affected their immediate and extended family.

“The ripple effect of this loss will be reflected for generations,” Rose Washington told Circuit Court Judge Robin Schmidt at the June 23 sentencing hearing for Springfield resident and former emergency medical technician Peter Cadigan, 53. “No matter what sentence is imposed today, he is still dead. … He deserved dignity. He deserved humanity.”

The sentence Schmidt handed down at the end of the hearing – two years’ probation and no prison time, one of the lightest sentences Cadigan could have received after his guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter – angered and disgusted a family that feels like it’s in a “horror movie,” according to community activist Teresa Haley. 

Forensic pathologist Dr. Scott Denton of Bloomington ruled that Moore died from “compressional and positional asphyxia” after he was placed face-down, or prone, by Cadigan on a LifeStar Ambulance Service gurney and then strapped down tightly by Cadigan.

Cadigan and supervising paramedic Peggy Finley, 47, were dispatched to Moore’s home on Springfield’s east side in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2022, by police at the scene. Police said Moore was hallucinating and reportedly going through alcohol withdrawal, though toxicology tests after his death showed alcohol in his system.

Cadigan and Finley initially were charged by Dan Wright, then the state’s attorney, with first-degree murder, and the murder charge against Finley, 47, remains pending while she is free and awaiting trial. The next hearing in her case is scheduled for Aug. 24 in front of Judge Schmidt.

After Wright was appointed to an associate circuit judge position, Wright’s successor, John Milhiser, decided to offer Cadigan the option of pleading guilty to a lesser felony charge rather than face a murder trial.

Milhiser, who declined comment on Cadigan’s and Finley’s cases, made his decision after more evidence was collected and testimony was introduced by prosecutors and defense attorneys from experts whose views of the case conflicted on Moore’s cause of death and other aspects.

---

The Moore family’s outrage

Haley said Moore’s family wanted to see Cadigan receive the maximum for involuntary manslaughter – five years in prison – even though, by law, any sentence could have been reduced by 50% for good behavior, and Cadigan would have received credit for 10 months in jail after his arrest. Special Prosecutor Derek Dion asked the judge for a five-year sentence.

Haley said the family also would have preferred that Milhiser not offer to drop the original first-degree murder charge in exchange for Cadigan’s guilty plea to manslaughter.

A murder conviction could have sent Cadigan to prison for decades. But Haley said Moore’s family respected prosecutors’ view that this would be the best option to get a conviction.

Haley, a spokesperson for Moore’s family members and immediate past president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP, acknowledged that the suffocation death of Moore, a Black man, at the hands of two white first-responders, resulted in some encouraging developments at the local and national level regarding race relations and emergency medical services.

But Haley wondered why such tragedies are needed to spark change.

“Here’s another example of what not to do,” Haley said. She noted that Sangamon County also received national attention for the July 2024 murder of Sonya Massey, a Black woman shot to death by a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy later convicted of second-degree murder.

“It always seems to be Black folks that we’re using these case studies on,” Haley said. “Those are good things, but it’s unfortunate that it’s on the back of Black folks.”

---

Reforms resulted

Moore’s death, after what many would consider rude treatment by Finley that was caught on police body-worn camera video and went viral, led to racial bias training at one of the two ambulance services responding to 911 calls in Springfield. 

Moore’s death was part of the community discussion that led to creation of the Massey Commission and the city’s recent purchase of a special ambulance that will be used by the Springfield Fire Department to respond to mental health-related and opioid-related incidents. 

The Moore case, one of the first in the nation in which EMS workers were charged with murder for behavior in the course of their duties, has been discussed at national conferences and training sessions of EMS professionals to avoid racial bias and promote more understanding, attentiveness and kindness in tense situations.

“I’ve seen references to this case in professional journals,” said Greg Chance, regional chief executive officer of nonprofit Medics First, a Springfield-based ambulance provider. “I think it’s created awareness nationwide.” 

Medics First’s parent organization, Peoria-based nonprofit Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois, put in place training that focuses on avoiding “implicit bias” among the organization’s 500 employees beginning in 2023 after the Moore case shined a light on the issue, Chance said.

But those improvements and national awareness don’t reduce the pain in the homes of Moore’s relatives, Haley said. The loss of the former McDonald’s shift manager meant a vacant chair that used to be filled by a beloved son, brother and uncle, she said.

Washington, 60, Moore’s mother, declined an interview request from Illinois Times, saying through the family’s attorney, Jennifer Hightower, that she was too upset to speak. 

Hightower said in a statement: “Peter Cadigan’s sentence does not change the facts. Earl Moore deserved dignity, compassion and respect during the most vulnerable moment of his life. Instead, he was met with apathy, hate and disregard.” Hightower said the family strongly disagrees with the sentence imposed but respects the judge and the judicial process. “Justice was denied,” she said, adding, “We will continue to fight every day to ensure that Earl Moore’s name is remembered, because he was loved, he mattered, and his life had value.”

The Springfield NAACP branch issued a news release that Cadigan’s sentence “sends a troubling message that the loss of a Black life can be met with minimal consequences” and that “the case underscores the persistent inequities that continue to shape how Black people are treated and perceived within institutions that are entrusted with their care.”

The NAACP also called for “meaningful reforms in emergency medical response, including enhanced training on crisis intervention, patient restraint practices, cultural competency and accountability measures designed to prevent tragedies like this from occurring again.”

---

Reaction from hospitals and the state

Illinois Times requested interviews with officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Springfield’s two acute-care hospitals, all of which regulate and oversee ambulance providers in Springfield and elsewhere in the state. The newspaper, which wanted to ask what ramifications the Moore case had on their operations, instead received statements. 

IDPH spokesperson Matthew Matta wrote that the agency revoked the EMS licenses of Cadigan and Finley, an action that appears to be permanent.

“Through continued education and quality improvement,” Matta said, “the department promotes safe emergency medical care that is delivered with professionalism, compassion, and respect. … The Illinois EMS Act requires that all EMS education programs are aligned with the National EMS Education Standards. … The department continues to use national best practice models to educate our EMS providers and adapt procedures as deemed necessary. IDPH is continuously evaluating ways to better educate personnel on safety and conduct.”  

Springfield Memorial Hospital, which oversees ambulance providers in Springfield, declined to comment on specific training because of “pending legal proceedings,” according to Angie Muhs, spokesperson for the nonprofit hospital and its parent organization, Memorial Health.

“What we can say is this event reinforced Memorial Health’s commitment to providing compassionate, patient-centered care and to continuously evaluating how we serve individuals and families across our communities,” she wrote.

“We remain focused on listening to the community and responding in partnership with them to the needs they bring up,” Muhs said. “We know mental health remains a huge priority, and so we are expanding access to our services and also advancing trauma-informed approaches to care both within our health system and among our community partners.”

Mary Massingale, spokesperson for HSHS St. John’s Hospital, said in a statement, “We consistently train EMS providers to ensure every patient interaction is grounded in an objective assessment with clear communication and respect, which aligns with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians education standards.”

---

An unusual criminal case

Attorneys for Cadigan and Finley never said Moore’s death wasn’t a tragedy. But they have said from the start that their client’s actions didn’t justify murder charges. 

Documents filed by both sides and testimony at Cadigan’s sentencing hearing indicated jurors would have had to sift through conflicting views if his case had gone to trial.

It was clear that Springfield Memorial Hospital’s EMS policies included a strict prohibition on placing patients face-down, rather than on their backs, on ambulance gurneys because of the risk of causing breathing problems.

 Denton said his opinion on Moore’s cause of death was “very grounded.” And another physician, William Engel from Virginia, backed up Denton’s findings and said the “chain of events” leading to Moore’s death could have been broken if Cadigan or Finley checked Moore’s vital signs or been more vigilant of his symptoms.

 Denton, the forensic pathologist who ruled on the cause of death, disagreed with Mark Kroll, a Minnesota-based biomedical scientist testifying as an expert for Cadigan’s defense. Kroll said that the prone placement and straps did not cause Moore’s death in the few minutes it took to transport Moore from the scene to St. John’s.

Kroll noted that 50 million Americans sleep on their stomachs with no ill effects, and prone positioning helped many patients survive during the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that in his role as a researcher, he never treats patients.

Kroll also doubted that the straps placed and tightened by Cadigan led to the rib fractures found by Denton in an autopsy. Denton attributed those fractures to the straps.

Special Prosecutor Derek Dion contradicted Kroll’s theories and said Moore didn’t die of a weak heart as the defense suggested.

“He was a weak patient, and he was strapped into a position where he could not breathe,” Dion said.

Finley’s attorney, Scott Hanken of Springfield, said Cadigan’s plea to involuntary manslaughter “heightens the absurdity” of the first-degree murder charge against Finley. Hanken said his client didn’t perform any of the acts that prosecutors said led to Moore’s death, though prosecutors said she was “legally responsible” for Cadigan’s acts as his supervisor.

Wright, when he was state’s attorney, refuted Hanken’s argument in court hearings on the case, including one at which Wright said Finley falsely characterized Moore as combative at the scene. 

“Not only was he not combative, he was the complete opposite of combative,” Wright said. “He needed help.”

Wright added that the issue in the case against Cadigan and Finley isn’t whether there was “some sort of plan to harm this man,” but that they acted in a way they knew was contrary to their training.

“It’s not the intent to kill,” Wright said. “It’s not the intent to do great bodily harm. It’s what they knew based upon their training and experience and the surrounding circumstances.”

---

Springfield’s new ambulance

Springfield Fire Chief Nick Zummo said the city’s recently purchased BOLT vehicle, which stands for beacon outreach lifesaving treatment, could be dispatched to cases involving mental health emergencies such as Moore’s.

The purchase of the BOLT vehicle, which will carry the label “Rescue One,” will be staffed 24 hours a day with firefighters who are emergency medical technicians. A $160,200 annual contract with Memorial Health will make Memorial mental health specialists available to be dispatched with BOLT to emergencies.

The vehicle will provide more in-depth responses and follow up for what can be complicated cases involving drug overdoses and mental health difficulties, Zummo said.

The firefighters union has contended that Moore never would have died if the fire department and its own EMTs had been the ones called upon to assist.

The vehicle was purchased by the city with about $260,000 previously set aside for the city for a city-operated ambulance service that would supplement what is provided by Medics First and America Ambulance.

Funding from the city’s share of the national opioid settlement will help pay for the costs of the program, which may be expanded after a trial period of a year or two, Zummo said.

The BOLT vehicle, which is expected to go into service this summer, wasn’t a direct result of Moore’s death, Zummo said. But he said Moore’s death was among many signs that an expanded EMS presence from the fire department is needed.

“This just happened to work out for what we had and the money that was available,” Zummo said, adding the rig could respond to about 3,000 calls per year. “This is just a different approach to providing care for the community.

---

What’s next for Cadigan and Moore’s family

Both Cadigan and his lawyer, Justin Kuehn of Belleville, were smiling and said they were relieved after the judge sentenced Cadigan. Kuehn told Schmidt that “there’s not a societal gain” with sending Cadigan to prison.

Kuehn said after the hearing that he was relieved but not surprised because there’s a “presumption of probation” with an involuntary manslaughter conviction unless probation would detract from the seriousness of the crime.

Schmidt decided that probation was justified even though Dion said Cadigan, who had no prior criminal convictions, deserved prison to deter similar conduct among other EMS workers in the future.

Kuehn said Cadigan has “put his life back together” by finding gainful employment and taking care of his teenage son. Kuehn said Cadigan lost a career he enjoyed and his marriage because of the criminal case.

After the hearing, Cadigan, who apologized to the Moore family during his sentencing, said his mistakes at the scene sent a clear message to those working in EMS. 

“This has gone national news,” said Cadigan, who now works as a maintenance worker for a senior living complex. “If whatever I did helps prevent this in the future, I don’t know what else to say other than that might be good. Unfortunately, it’s bad for the situation that I’m in.”

Cadigan said he should have obtained more information about Moore’s medical history when he arrived. With that information, Cadigan said, “I could probably (have) help(ed) him a little better. I’m sure it would have changed the outcome.”

Haley said Black people who were leery about calling EMS in an emergency after Moore’s death remain skittish “because we see what the results are.”

If Moore were white and Cadigan and Finley were Black, “it would’ve been a different outcome,” Haley said. “They would have been found guilty on all charges and sent to prison.”

Moore’s family appreciated Cadigan’s apology, Haley said, but it won’t bring Moore back to life. She said the family, which received an undisclosed settlement after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against LifeStar, has little faith justice will be served in Finley’s case, either.

“Whatever justice looks like, we want her ass to go to jail,” Haley said, “and not for two days and not for two weeks. … We do not feel sorry for these individuals that go around killing Black people and think they can get away with it.

“Black lives matter, just like everybody else’s lives matter, and it’s got to change in Sangamon County.”

Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer with Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or www.x.DeanOlsenIT.

This article appears in July 23-29, 2026.