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A crime scene reconstruction expert and the mother of Manuel Ellis testified Monday in the trial for Ellis' death.
Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died in police custody in March 2020.
Three Tacoma police officers face charges in the death of Ellis, who died on March 3, 2020, after a confrontation with the officers.
Officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins are charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Marcia Carter-Patterson, Ellis’ mother, was the first person to testify Monday. She testified that Ellis “looked good” the night he died. Carter-Patterson spoke to her son via a video call and said Ellis asked her to join him at church for a revival.
“His happiness showed,” Carter-Patterson said. “He was very gregarious that night and more at peace.”
Carter-Patterson testified that Ellis had mental health challenges, but he was doing better at the time of his death, including living in a clean and sober house.
"That was the night that he said, 'Mom I really want to give my life to the Lord. I'm tired of the lies. I'm tired of just being out here. I want to be here for my family. I just want to do the right thing. I want my life to change,'" Carter-Patterson testified.
Carter-Patterson testified directly after her daughter, Monet Carter-Mixon, who described to jurors on Thursday her brother's state of mind before her death. Former Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said one reason the state may have brought family members before the jury early in the trial was to try and humanize Ellis.
David C. Wells, a crime scene reconstruction expert who owns a private company that offers forensic mapping, shared photos of the crime scene that were created using scanner technology. Wells walked the jury through how his staff mapped out the crime scene, placing patrol cars and witness vehicles on a bird's-eye view diagram using software.
The software can also measure distances between different points in the crime scene, and Wells showed the jury how far witnesses were from Ellis and Collins and Burbank's patrol car.
Wells impressed to the jury that the bird's-eye view diagram of the scene is important because photos can skew angles and distances based on how the photo is taken.
"Perspective is an important factor," Wells said.
On Friday, prosecutors released their expected list of witnesses for this week, saying they plan to call Sarah McDowell, a witness who took video of the incident, and David Hallimore, an audio expert.
Background on the case
On March 3, 2020, Ellis was walking home when he stopped to speak with Tacoma Police Officers Burbank and Collins, who were in their patrol car, according to probable cause documents.
Witnesses said Ellis turned to walk away, but the officers got out of their car and knocked Ellis to his knees. All witnesses told investigators they did not see Ellis strike the officers.
Other responding officers told investigators that Burbank and Collins reported Ellis was “goin’ after a car” in the intersection and punched the patrol car's windows.
Witness video showed officers repeatedly hitting Ellis. Collins put Ellis into a neck restraint, and Burbank tasered Ellis’ chest, according to prosecutors.
Home security camera footage captured Ellis saying, “Can’t breathe, sir. Can’t breathe."
Rankine, who was the first backup officer to arrive, applied pressure to Ellis' back and held him in place while Ellis was "hogtied" with a hobble, according to documents.
When the fire department arrived, Ellis was “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to documents.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis' death a homicide. According to the autopsy report, Ellis had a fatal amount of methamphetamine in his system.
KING 5 will stream gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial from opening to closing statements. Follow live coverage and watch videos on demand on king5.com, KING 5+ and the KING 5 YouTube channel.