Father of man who drowned in Missouri Highway Patrol custody: 'We’re getting some justice'

A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper was charged Friday with involuntary manslaughter following the May 2014 death of Brandon Ellingson, who drowned in the Lake of the Ozarks while in custody with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Trooper Anthony Piercy was charged by William Seay, a special prosecutor tasked with reviewing the incident, the patrol said Friday. Piercy has been placed on leave without pay.

Reacting to the announcement Friday, Craig Ellingson, Brandon's father, told the Des Moines Register: "We’re getting some justice. God will take care of the rest. It’s not for me to punish Piercy, but we do have laws here that we’re supposed to live under."

"We still miss him a lot," Craig Ellingson continued. "We always will. It’s hard."

Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa, was placed under arrest by Piercy at the lake on May 31, 2014, on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. Ellingson's life vest wasn’t properly secured — witnesses reported his arms weren't through the vest's arm holes —  and came off shortly after he tumbled into the water while being transported for a breath test. The trooper jumped into the water but couldn’t save Ellingson. His body was discovered the next day, 80 feet below the surface in the spot where he went under.

The patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control began conducting an investigation into Ellingson's death on the day he drowned, the department said Friday. It completed that investigation in August 2014 and turned over investigative reports to the Morgan County coroner. Later that month, Morgan County Associate Circuit Court appointed Osage County prosecutor Amanda Grellner to review the drowning investigation.

In early September 2014, a decided that Ellingson's death was accidental during a coroner inquest. A few days later, 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 interests and said she had been close to completing her investigation. That's when Seay, who is city attorney in Salem, Mo., took over as special prosecutor. Seay announced the charge Friday morning in Versailles.