‘My person’: Manny Ellis’ sister takes the stand in Tacoma officers’ trial

Manuel “Manny” Ellis’ younger sister took the stand Thursday and told a Pierce County jury about her brother and the night he died in Tacoma police custody in March 2020.

Monet Carter-Mixon, 32, said she and her brother talked constantly and he took care of her kids if she had to work late hours.

“We were very close. He was my best friend. He was my person,” she said. “When I needed him, he was always there for me.”

Court documents allege Ellis was punched, shocked with a Taser, put in a chokehold and held face down after he was stopped while walking home from a convenience store.

Officers Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins and Timothy Rankine have all been charged with first-degree manslaughter. Burbank and Collins also face an additional second-degree murder charge. All three have pleaded not guilty and remain on paid administrative leave from the Tacoma Police Department.

“I got a phone call from someone (at) the medical examiner’s office telling me that they had my brother’s body there with him,” Carter-Mixon said.

Carter-Mixon, 32, acknowledged Thursday her brother struggled with mental health, noting he was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia.

“He would get very, very down, very sad and really emotional and vulnerable,” she said. “We talked a lot about that.”

Carter-Mixon also noted that she has experienced her own struggles with depression. So, Ellis was a great person for her to talk to.

“We both had our struggles with depression,” Ellis’ sister said. “He was my person, so it was therapeutic to talk about our mental health.”

She also acknowledged Ellis struggled with drug addiction, saying, “His drug of choice was meth.”

Carter-Mixon told the jury Ellis was in sober living and recovering at the time of his death.

She added Ellis spoke to their mother on the phone the day he died and he tried to convince their mother to go to church with him.

“He had just come back from Revival,” Carter-Mixon said. “It was a good experience for him. He wanted her to come to church. He told her she looked really pretty. He sounded really happy and upbeat.”

The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled Ellis’ death a homicide caused primarily by a lack of oxygen due to being restrained. But the report also cited methamphetamine use and Ellis’ existing heart condition as contributing factors.

Anne Bremner, the attorney representing Rankine, previously said the drugs in Ellis’ system ultimately killed him.

“The evidence is undisputed that he had a large heart and compromised lungs,” she told the jury during opening statements earlier this week. “It comes from their own medical examiner. That level of meth would have killed anybody in this room.”

In addition, defense attorneys say Ellis had a deadly amount of meth in his system when he was stopped by Collins and Burbank—and violently fought against them.

Prosecutors disagree, saying the officers ignored their training and left Ellis in a dangerous “prone position,” face down with his arms and legs tied behind his back. “These three defendants did nothing to help Mr. Ellis. Even as he pleaded with him over and over again, ‘Can’t breathe’ they did nothing for him,” Liu said.

The trial will resume Monday. Manny Ellis’ mother is expected to take the stand next.

Speaking out after the day in court

James Bible, an attorney for the Ellis family, offered comments outside the Pierce County courthouse, after court let out recounting the 2020 incident that led to Ellis’ family.

“He didn’t possess a weapon. He at no point fought back,” Bible said. “He said the word ‘sir.’ His hands were in the air … And even still, prosecution was delayed.

After testifying in court, Carter-Mixon spoke outside the courthouse as well, saying she feels the officers have received preferential treatment in the time since the deadly police stop, whereas her family are suspects.

“Just because a person has a history of drug use or a history of mental illness doesn’t give anybody, let alone a police officer, have the right to maim you in the street and beat you to death.

“I feel like I’m the one on trial and my brother’s the one on trial,” she said.

Kate Stone is a reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Steve Coogan is the lead editor at MyNorthwest.