The family of Manuel Ellis is claiming that they are the victims of witness intimidation as the trial of the police officers charged with killing the 33-year-old gets underway.
Ellis died in police custody after being beaten, shocked, choked, hogtied and had a spit mask placed over his head while being detained on a Tacoma, Washington, street on March 3, 2020.
The Seattle Times reports that Ellis’ mother, Marcia Carter-Patterson, reported she was “scared, very scared” before taking the witness stand on Monday during the trial of 40-year-old Matthew Collins, Christopher “Shane” Burbank, 38, and 34-year-old Timothy Rankine on Monday.
The three police officers are on trial for first-degree manslaughter in connection to Ellis’ death, with Collins and Burbank also charged with second-degree murder. The three men are out on bond and receiving paid leave, and Carter-Patterson told the Times that she found a tracking device on her vehicle last week.
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