Watch: Mayor Woodards spoke Friday on Manuel Ellis investigation

Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards spoke Friday at 6 p.m. about the investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis.

Since the mayor last spoke on Wednesday, calling for the officers involved to be fired, the Tacoma City Council has written to the governor concerning an independent investigation, city manager Elizabeth Pauli has issued a statement on the mayor’s directive and police unions have responded to the mayor.

Ellis died during an altercation with Tacoma police on March 3. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined Ellis died of respiratory arrest due to hypoxia due to physical restraint with contributing factors that included methamphetamine intoxication and dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly known as an enlarged heart.

The Medical Examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide, which legally means he was killed by another person. Fatal police shootings, for instance, are generally determined to be homicides. It is up to prosecutors to decide if police acted lawfully and if the homicide was justifiable or a criminal act was committed.

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 3:53 PM.