As part of a plea deal, Shannon Brandt, who admitted to deliberately causing the death of Cayler Ellingson, a young conservative adult, was given a five-year prison term.
At a street dancing event, Brandt, 42, got into a violent dispute with a person, 18, during the incident. When the boy felt intimidated and called his mother for assistance as Brandt began pursuing him in his car, the situation worsened.
Ellingson was knocked to the ground by Brandt’s 2003 Ford Explorer after they collided. Tragically, he continued and ran over the young man’s legs and chest, killing him. In a startling turn of events, Brandt raced away before eventually returning and calling 911.
Brandt erroneously asserted that the youngster was a member of a “right-wing extremist group” during the 911 call; this assertion has been fully disproven. Brandt claimed that the boy called for help over the phone and threatened him with membership in an extreme Republican party. During the call, Brandt exhibited dread and perplexity due to a lack of knowledge regarding the circumstances.
Despite committing a terrible act, Brandt will only spend five years in prison after receiving credit for time spent under house arrest. Release under supervision for a year.
At first, Brandt was charged with intentional homicide; however, Foster County State’s Attorney Kara E. Brinster lowered the charges to manslaughter, and Southeast Judicial District Judge Bradley Cruff approved of the change.
According to KFGO, Judge Bradley Cruff took Brandt’s autism diagnosis into account while formulating his ruling. Given that Brandt’s psychological condition impaired his comprehension of social settings and led him to overreact to the confrontation with Ellingson, the judge spent a large amount of the sentence hearing analyzing it.
“You didn’t intentionally run him over. I acknowledge that. I understand what the experts in this case are saying about how your mind works. And you didn’t intentionally kill Cayler. But he did die. And that’s a result of your alcohol consumption. You recklessly pushed Cayler to the ground with your SUV, you recklessly ran him over, and you recklessly killed him,” Cruff said.
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During the sentencing hearing, several members of Ellingson’s family addressed the judge. Sheri Ellingson’s mother was one of them, and she pleaded with the judge to reject the plea deal and impose the maximum 10-year term for manslaughter. She made an emotional appeal on their behalf, emphasizing the irreplaceable loss they have suffered as a result of Shannon’s actions. She said: “Shannon, by taking Cayler’s life and happiness, you have also taken away ours. Your selfishness has caused our family immeasurable pain, heartache, and sleepless nights. Our future has been forever changed.”
Prior to being sentenced, Brandt spoke to the courtroom and admitted that he “takes responsibility” for Ellingson’s passing. “I’m here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy. I’m very sorry to the Ellingson family, my family, and anybody else that has been affected by my actions. I have always enjoyed seeing the Ellingsons and would never have intentionally caused harm to any of them. I am truly devastated by the impact this has had on the entire community,” Brandt said.
