‘He was my best friend.’ Sister of man who died in Tacoma police custody testifies
The sister of the man three Tacoma police officers are charged with killing testified Thursday afternoon in the officers’ in-custody death trial, telling jurors about the close relationship she and her brother had and how she obtained video from the night he died.
“He was my best friend. He was my person,” Monét Carter-Mixon said of her brother, Manuel Ellis. “When I needed him, he was always there for me.”
Ellis, 33, died of oxygen deprivation after encountering police the night of March 3, 2020, the Pierce County medical examiner ruled. Prosecutors with the Washington Attorney General’s Office have said officers attacked and restrained him without justification. Defense attorneys say the officers were simply responding after Ellis attacked their patrol car, and they have focused on the high amount of methamphetamine as another explanation for his death.
Matthew Collins, 40, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38 and Timothy Rankine, 34, remain employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave while they’re on trial. Collins and Burbank are charged with second-degree murder; all three officers are charged with first-degree manslaughter. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Carter-Mixon took the stand with the assistance of a walker, telling jurors she recently suffered a traumatic childbirth injury she’s still recovering from. The woman said she and Ellis grew up with their mother and father in Lakewood and Central Tacoma. As she testified, a photo of her brother was shown on courtroom televisions.
Answering questions from special assistant attorney general Patty Eakes, Carter-Mixon, 32, told jurors about the last time she heard her brother’s voice and how she learned of his death. Ellis video-called their mother the night of March 3 after he went to a church revival, Carter-Mixon said. She overheard the conversation from another room.
“He sounded really happy and, like, upbeat,” Carter-Mixon said.
The next morning, she noticed a missed video call from Ellis that was timestamped 9:56 p.m the previous night.
Carter-Mixon said she was working that morning when someone at the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office called her and left a voicemail. The person told her that her brother’s body was at the office.
Asked what she did next, Ellis’ sister said she searched online for anything about a Black man being killed in Tacoma. Soon she was on a Facebook page that Carter-Mixon said posts about local crime, where she found information about her brother’s death. Carter-Mixon testified that she then called a woman who helped run the clean-and-sober home where Ellis was living before he died, and she went to the 7-Eleven that she knew Ellis frequented to speak with store clerks.
Carter-Mixon posted about Ellis’ death on social media in the hopes that someone would come forward with more information. Months later, she testified, she received a Facebook message from Sara McDowell.
The woman told her she was there the night Ellis died, and she had been driving home when she ended up behind the officers’ patrol car. McDowell said she had information and video for Carter-Mixon. Ellis’ sister read the next message.
“You’re really gonna want the video, the information the cops gave and that is everywhere is a lie,” Carter-Mixon read.
Eakes and attorneys for the three officers also questioned Carter-Mixon about Ellis’ mental health and struggles with drug addiction. The woman said Ellis was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia in his late 20s or early 30s, and he became addicted to methamphetamine in his early 20s.
Answering questions from Eakes, Carter-Mixon testified that Ellis was living with her in late 2019 and helped take care of her children, frequently making breakfast for them or walking to the store to get supplies. Carter-Mixon said it was their routine for her to drop Ellis off at appointments with Pierce County Alliance and with a psychiatrist for Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare, where he was receiving help for his mental health and drug addiction.
In the days after Christmas that year, Carter-Mixon, said the mother of Ellis’ child told her Ellis had relapsed, so she told Ellis he couldn’t live with her, and he needed to move into a clean-and-sober house.
Casey Arbenz, an attorney for Collins, later questioned Carter-Mixon, asking her how symptoms of his depression or schizophrenia manifested. Carter-Mixon told him Ellis would sometimes ask her if she heard or saw something. She said she would tell him she didn’t, and he needed to see a doctor. Arbenz asked what Ellis was like when he was high on meth.
“When he was high he was very down, very depressed, very emotional,” Carter-Mixon said. “He would cry a lot. In a way I think he was embarrassed he had to resort to using drugs to suppress how he was feeling”
In re-direct examination, Eakes asked Carter-Mixon why she would allow Ellis to be near her children while he was still struggling with drug addiction. The woman said she wasn’t concerned about Ellis’ behavior around her children.
“He was actually a joy to be around,” Carter-Mixon said.
Brett Purtzer, an attorney for Burbank, was one of the last attorneys to question Carter-Mixon about Ellis’ drug use and health. The woman said she wasn’t worried about Ellis overdosing on meth, but she was worried about dangers he could face buying the drug. Purtzer asked if she was concerned about her brother’s overall health. Carter-Mixon said no, and, asked if Ellis had a bad heart, the witness said she wasn’t aware he did.
Carter-Mixon was excused at the end of Thursday, completing her testimony. Ellis’ mother, Marcia Carter-Patterson, is scheduled to testify Monday for the prosecution.
This story was originally published October 5, 2023 at 4:19 PM.
