Pierce County prosecutor won’t review Manuel Ellis’ death; Inslee orders new investigation
Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday ordered a new investigation into Manuel Ellis’ death during an encounter with Tacoma police.
“I have become convinced that the Pierce County Sheriff should not complete the investigation of the death of Manuel Ellis and the county prosecutor should not review the investigation and make charging decisions,” Inslee said in a statement. “Instead, there must be a new investigation and charging decision made independent of Pierce County law enforcement.”
Moments before, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett announced she is stepping away from the case, and a review of the investigation would not take place as expected Wednesday.
Officials said the decision came after learning a sheriff’s deputy was on scene at some point when Ellis was detained by Tacoma police March 3 and died in the moments afterward.
“I regret that this development means I should step back from this case, but in the situation as it now exists, that is the right decision to make,” Robnett said in a statement.
In a meeting with Sheriff Paul Pastor Tuesday afternoon, they discussed the new developments and decided to delay the presentation detectives and medical examiners planned to give prosecutors on the three-month investigation.
Previously, only four Tacoma police officers were believed to be on scene when Ellis, a 33-year-old black man, was restrained.
The deputy, who has not been identified, came on scene after the four Tacoma officers, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
“While the involvement of the deputy was minimal and was noted by our own documentation, we agree that the right thing to do is to hand off the investigation as the prosecutor has recommended,” the department said Wednesday in a statement.
A Washington State Patrol trooper also was briefly at the scene, Inslee said at an afternoon press conference. Whether the agency is able to conduct an independent review of the investigation is still to be determined.
Robnett renewed her call for Attorney General Bob Ferguson to accept concurrent jurisdiction in the case, which he declined Monday saying the reviews needed to be kept separate.
“Sheriff Pastor and I agree that this is the right thing to do,” Robnett wrote in her statement. “We want this matter handled in the right way, so that the public has confidence in the investigation and the decision.”
Although Ferguson and Mayor Victoria Woodards declined invitations to join the scheduled presentation Wednesday, Pastor Gregory Christopher and Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective co-chair Lyle Quasim still attended.
Robnett said she gave them a briefing about the latest developments.
Ferguson put out a statement Wednesday afternoon, reprimanding the Sheriff’s Department for a “totally unnecessary delay in the investigation of this case.”
“I am working with the Governor to ensure an independent law enforcement investigation, and once that is complete, an independent charging decision free of any conflicts,” Ferguson said. “The Ellis family and the public deserve a process they can trust, and that is my priority right now.”
Inslee echoed that sentiment.
“At this point we are working to determine who will conduct the independent investigation and who will make charging decisions,” the governor said in a statement. “That said, the state will ensure an independent investigation and independent prosecutorial review into the death of Manuel Ellis. We will ensure that the work is done free of conflicts of interest.”
He apologized to the family that the matter will be dragged out longer.
Ellis’ family, attorney and local activists have demanded a new investigation separate from the one done by sheriff’s detectives, claiming the Sheriff’s Department has not been transparent and cannot be trusted to police a law enforcement agency they work so closely with.
On Wednesday, attorney James Bible said he is glad an independent investigation has been granted.
“I think it’s critical that the taxpayers actually have an independent investigation, a thorough vetting of what happened here in Tacoma, so every I is dotted and T is crossed by an entity that doesn’t have any stake in the event other than justice,” he told The News Tribune. “This needed to happen, for Manny Ellis, for his family and for the community,” he said.
A sheriff’s spokesman has said the department was fine with handing over their investigation to another agency if need be.
It usually takes months before a charging decision is made in cases where people die in police custody or from use of force.
Authorities have promised to move quickly on the Ellis case.
A prosecuting authority will decide whether four officers involved in restraining Ellis on March 3, the night he died, acted in a justifiable manner or should face criminal charges.
The Police Department identified the four officers involved in restraining Ellis as Christopher Burbank, 34; Matthew Collins, 37; Masyih Ford, 28; and Timothy Rankine, 31.
Burbank and Collins are white. Ford is black. Rankine is Asian.
Details about the four officers’ role in the incident have not been released.
Video from a passing witness and security footage from a home across the street from 96th Street South and Ainsworth Avenue South shows two officers struggling with Ellis and appearing to punch him while he was on the ground.
During the encounter, Ellis cried out in pain and said, “I can’t breathe, sir, I can’t breathe.”
Another video clip showed two officers subduing Ellis and ordering him to put his hands behind his back.
Police handcuffed Ellis, put hobbles (a cloth strap) around his legs and placed a spit guard over his mouth to prevent spitting or biting, according to autopsy findings.
After Ellis yelled that he couldn’t breathe, the officers rolled him onto his side but at some point rolled him back onto his stomach, investigators said.
Ellis died of hypoxia due to physical restraint, according to the Medical Examiner.
His death was deemed a homicide, which legally means he was killed by another person. The term does not imply guilt. It is up for prosecutors to decide whether criminal charges are warranted.
Ellis also suffered from heart disease and had enough methamphetamine in his system to be fatal, according to the Medical Examiner’s report.
Although the Sheriff’s Department said the deputy who responded to the scene where Ellis died had minimal involvement, it was not the first time Ellis has had a run-in with deputies.
He was arrested Sept. 21 for allegedly trying to rob a fast-food restaurant before running outside, stripping off his clothes and sprinting down the street. Deputies used a stun gun in that case because he resisted arrest and struggled, court records say.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 12:13 PM.
