Another black man died in a police restraint while yelling 'I can't breathe': Washington medical examiner rules father-of-two Manuel Ellis's death was a homicide after he was handcuffed during his arrest in March
The death of a black man who yelled 'I can't breathe' while handcuffed and restrained by cops has been ruled a homicide.
Manuel Ellis, 33, - father to an 11-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter - died on March 3 when he was arrested by Tacoma Police Department officers for allegedly harassing women.
Officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford and Timothy Rankine, who are now on administrative leave, said they intervened when they saw Ellis harassing a woman by banging on her car window.
According to police, Ellis started hitting their patrol car and asking to speak them about outstanding warrants against him.
Cops say he then picked up one of the officers by the vest and threw him on the ground.
They then tried to restrain him when he got combative on the floor, shortly before he died. It is unclear how he was restrained, and how long he was restrained for before he died.
On Wednesday, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Ellis died of respiratory arrest due to hypoxia due to physical restraint.
Manuel Ellis, 33, yelled 'I can't breathe' as Tacoma Police Department officers restrained him on the ground while he was handcuffed on March 3. Cops said he was harassing women in Washington State when they approached him and that he banged on their car and slammed an officer to the ground
Masyih Ford (left) and Timothy Rankine (right), are two of the four officers involved. They were not wearing body cameras but there is footage of the incident that has been submitted. The four officers were initially placed on paid leave, returned to the force, then placed on administrative leave again Wednesday after the homicide ruling
Hypoxia describes how not enough oxygen can reach the lungs.
Cops initially said they believed Ellis died from excited delirium which can result in overwhelming strength, an overheated body and attempts at violence.
The findings came back on May 11. It's unclear why they were not announced until June 3.
The full details of how he was restrained were not available Wednesday but a detective said they didn't believe officers used a knee to the neck or a choke hold.
The officers involved were also not wearing their bodycams, by Tacoma Police Department suggested there is a video that has been entered into evidence.
The announcement came as Americans across all 50 states were marching in protest of police brutality against African Americans and racial inequality.
There are similarities in the deaths of Ellis and George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis last week after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes and others held his torso and lower body down to the ground.
On the night Ellis died, police encountered him at 11.22pm as he was walking home and paramedics were called three minutes later.
Police said he was harassing a woman at an intersection when two officers in the area asked what he was doing.
Police say Ellis said he had warrants and wanted to talk to them, police said.
Officers claim Ellis then repeatedly banged on their patrol car and the two officers inside called for backup then got out of the vehicle.
Ed Troyer, spokesman of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the incident, said: 'He picked up the officer by his vest and slam-dunked him on the ground.'
According to the cops, there was a struggle before police got Ellis handcuffed on the ground and continued to be combative. Officers called for paramedics at 11.25pm.
During the call, cops are heard asking for hobbles and telling dispatch that Ellis will need to be strapped down. At one point Ellis his heard saying 'can't breathe'.
Within a minute of firefighters arriving, Ellis stopped breathing and lost consciousness. First responders removed the cuffs and worked on him for 40 minutes. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Cops said initially the father to an 11-year-old and 18-month-old might have experienced excited delirium, which can result in overwhelming strength, an overheated body and attempts at violence
Contributing factors included methamphetamine intoxication and dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly known as an enlarged heart, the Medical Examiner said. Ellis was living at a clean-and-sober home
His cause of death was initially listed as pending while medical examiners ran toxicology tests.
This week, Tacoma police identified the four officers involved in restraining Ellis.
Burbank, 34, and Collins, 37, are white and have been on the force four and a half years, and five years, respectively.
Ford, 28, is black and Rankine, 31, is Asian. They have been on the force two years and two months, and one year and 10 months respectively.
All four were placed on paid administrative leave after the incident. They then returned to duty but were placed on administrative leave again Wednesday.
Contributing factors included methamphetamine intoxication and dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly known as an enlarged heart, the Medical Examiner said.
Police Chief Don Ramsdell said he is awaiting investigators' final report on Ellis' death. The case is expected to be forwarded to the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office by next week.
'The information is all being put together,' Pierce County Detective Troyer said. 'We expect to present it to the prosecutor at the end of this week or early next week.'
People are seen gathering Wednesday at the cross section where Ellis was killed on March 3
A photo of Manuel Ellis, a black man whose March death while in Tacoma Police custody was recently found to be a homicide, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office, is seen near the site of his death during a vigil for him on Wednesday in Tacoma, Washington
Marcia Carter-Patterson (left) speaks during a vigil at the intersection where her son, Ellis, died. Matthew Ellis (right) speaks while holding a Bible on Wednesday
People held signs during a vigil for Manuel Ellis. Protests and other events sparked by the death of George Floyd have continued in the Tacoma area
He said the officers rolled Ellis onto his side when he said he 'can't breathe' and that he doesn't believe they used a choke hold or knee in the neck.
Eric Garner died after cops put him in a choke hold for allegedly illegally selling cigarettes and George Floyd died under the pressure of a knee to his neck while suspected of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill.
Both black men cried to the cops: 'I can't breathe.'
'The main reason why he was restrained was so he wouldn't hurt himself or them,' Detective Troyer said. 'As soon as he said he couldn't breathe, they requested medical aid.'
Ellis' sister, whose children he helped look after,
'There's a lot of questions that still need to be answered,' Ellis' sister Monet Carter-Mixon said. 'My heart literally hurts. It's painful. My brother was my best friend.'
A vigil took place Wednesday night in Tacoma.
We will learn the results of that investigation even as our country reels from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others,' Mayor Woodards said
A close friend of Ellis' said they had enjoyed a video call two hours before the incident. They spoke about how excited he was to have attended a church service where he played the drums.
'He was always uplifting,' Brian Giordano told the New York Times. 'He was always on the up-and-up about taking care of people.'
He said Ellis was living in a clean-and-sober home and was getting his life together.
A GoFundMe page explained: 'His father died from stomach cancer when he was 2 months old, and a difficult childhood led to struggles with addiction and mental health needs, undiagnosed for many years.'
The page added that he had warned the children in his family of the dangers that come with growing up black in America.
A detective said police did not use a knee to the neck like in the death of George Floyd (pictured). They said cops didn't use a choke hold like in the case of Eric Garner's death
It adds they never expected him to die at the hands of law enforcement.
'He raised his daughter and his nieces and nephews with the understanding that because they were Black their conduct must reflect the understanding that being killed by police was a very real possibility for them and would always be justified by the broader society...
'Still, we never thought we would see him dead at the hands of the police. We are heartbroken and angry that his life was taken by unaccountable officers of the state.'
The family now needs help with legal fees to bring charges to the officers.
'The harshest of realities is George Floyd is right here in Tacoma, and his name is Manny,' attorney James Bible, who is representing Ellis' family, told The News Tribune.
Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday that he and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards 'will be pushing to make sure there is a full and complete investigation of that incident'.
'We will learn the results of that investigation even as our country reels from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others,' Ms. Woodards said.
She urged protesters not to let their emotions overcome them.
'While Tacoma has come together peacefully to have hard conversations about the change that needs to happen to save African-American lives, we have seen how the tension of this issue and these lost lives have spilled over into more violence,' Woodards said.
'We will not sit back and allow national tensions to bleed into the progress we are striving to achieve. Together, we will serve as an example that we can move forward as a community if we are united in purpose and love.'
Another black man died in a police restraint while yelling 'I can't breathe': Washington medical examiner rules father-of-two Manuel Ellis's death was a homicide after he was handcuffed during his arrest in March
![Another black man died in a police restraint while yelling 'I can't breathe': Washington medical examiner rules father-of-two Manuel Ellis's death was a homicide after he was handcuffed during his arrest in March]()
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June 05, 2020
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