Ellingson's father on trooper charge: 'We’re getting some justice'

Brandon Ellingson's father says the family is "getting some justice" after a special prosecutor charged a Missouri state trooper with involuntary manslaughter in the Clive man's drowning.

Trooper Tony Piercy faces involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Ellingson, 20, who drowned May 31, 2014, after being arrested. Piercy was immediately placed on unpaid leave following Friday's announcement, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol news release.

Craig Ellingson, Brandon's father, spoke with The Des Moines Register after the announcement.

"God will take care of the rest," he said. "It’s not for me to punish Piercy, but we do have laws here that we’re supposed to live under.

"We still miss (Brandon) a lot. We always will. It’s hard."

Piercy arrested Brandon Ellingson on the Lake of the Ozarks on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. Piercy handcuffed Ellingson's hands behind his back and placed a life jacket vest around his torso, witnesses said.

Piercy, a highway patrol veteran who was relatively new to working on a lake, reportedly tried to transport Ellingson back to shore in a speedboat, traveling at speeds up to 40 mph. Ellingson went into the water.

Witnesses have reported that Ellingson's arms weren't in the life jacket's arm holes and that the jacket came off. Piercy jumped in the water but couldn't save Ellingson. There was reportedly no video of the incident.

Ellingson's childhood friend Brody Baumann was at the lake that day and said he saw Piercy improperly put the life jacket over Ellingson's arms. Baumann called Friday's involuntary manslaughter charge a "step in the right direction."

"But it's far from being over," he said. "It should have never taken this long to come to this conclusion."

The special prosecutor, William Seay, told reporters in Versailles, Mo., that Piercy's actions were reckless, according to the Associated Press.

"I have reviewed boxes and boxes of reports and records in regard to Mr. Piercy's training and experience and everything that was done in the investigation," he said. "I have charged (Piercy) with recklessly causing his death. … It relates to an unjustifiable risk being taken."

Piercy could not be reached for comment. He turned himself in Friday and was released on $50,000 bond. The maximum penalty for the charge he faces is seven years in prison.

The state patrol did not comment beyond the news release, which said "the charge for which Piercy was arrested is a mere accusation and is not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence."

A Missouri jury decided that Ellingson's death was accidental during a coroner inquest about 15 months ago. A few days later, Osage County prosecutor Amanda Grellner confirmed the jury's decision and declined to press criminal charges against Piercy.

However, in January, Grellner said that she had received new information and was reviewing the case again. In March, she stepped aside from the case because of a conflict of interest and said she had been close to completing her investigation. That's when Seay, who is city attorney in Salem, Mo., took over her role as special prosecutor.

In October, Grellner withdrew a complaint she had filed against Randy Henry, a Missouri State Highway Patrol official who had been demoted after he criticized the agency for its investigation of the death and for its training of new water officers. The specifics of the complaint have not been made public.

Henry is regarded as a whistle-blower regarding how state patrol leadership handled the aftermath of the drowning — he called it a "cover-up."

"My first sense of joy is for Craig and Sherry (Brandon's parents). He didn’t die in vain," Henry said. "Also it 100 percent vindicates me."

Henry, almost a 30-year veteran of the patrol, immediately retired after Grellner removed her complaint, and his lawyer told reporters that Henry wanted "nothing else to do with this organization."

"I knew the cover-up story within the first week; I said no way, I’m not going along with it and I took the plunge," Henry told the Register after news broke Friday of Piercy's arrest. "I’m extremely grateful that the charges have been filed and I don’t think it should stop here. I think there should be an investigation into the people involved in the obstruction of justice."

Grellner's son was questioned — and eventually cleared — by the state patrol in connection with a sexual assault in 2013, but Henry's lawyer has said he has no evidence that the assault case influenced Grellner in any way with regard to Ellingson's case.

Ellingson's family accused the highway patrol of negligence in a federal lawsuit last year. The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into whether any federal laws have been violated.

In September, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote to Seay asking for an update on the investigation by Oct. 1. There was no public announcement of whether Seay answered Grassley.

“Along with many other Iowans, I’ve been asking questions about the status of the investigation into Brandon Ellingson’s death," Grassley told the Register on Friday. "With today’s announcement, it’s good to see some of those questions finally answered."

Friends and family have had too many questions left unanswered for far too long, Grassley said.

"As the criminal justice system now moves forward with its process, we’ll be able to learn more about what happened to Brandon on that fateful day last year,” he said.

The case also led to changes in Missouri's state patrol procedures. Legislators during hearings questioned the decision to merge separate water and highway patrols because water troopers were receiving less training. Piercy, at the coroner's inquest in 2014, said he hadn't received proper training to handle what happened the day Ellingson drowned. A special legislative committee was told last month that some of the recommendations it issued after Ellingson's death concerning recruitment and training of water officers had been implemented.