Missouri to pay $9 million to family of Iowa man who drowned while in custody of law enforcement

The state of Missouri will pay millions to the family of a 20-year-old Iowa man who drowned while in the custody of a state trooper, about two-and-a-half years after the fatal incident at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the news of the settlement, which signals the end of a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Brandon Ellingson, the college student from Clive in central Iowa who drowned May 31, 2014.

Matt Boles, one of the attorneys for the Ellingson family, also confirmed the $9 million settlement, which was announced Thursday.

It is thought to be the largest wrongful death settlement the state has paid since 2004, according to the Kansas City Star.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. John Hotz said in a statement, 'The mission of the Missouri State Highway Patrol is to serve and protect all people, and any loss of life is a tragedy. With this case now settled through the court system, the Patrol will have no additional comment.”

According to the Post-Dispatch, Ellingson's family had alleged that the state, the trooper who was involved in the incident, and the highway patrol were liable for the death.

Brandon Ellingson was piloting his family's boat in May 2014 when Trooper Anthony Piercy stopped the vessel, according to reports. The college student, who was with a group of friends at the time, was handcuffed and taken into custody for boating while intoxicated.

Piercy handcuffed Ellingson's hands behind his back and, according to Ellingson's friends, tried to jam a buckled life vest on Ellingson, but didn't get Ellingson's arms into the jacket holes.

Piercy, a Highway Patrol road veteran who was relatively new to working on a lake, was taking Ellingson to shore in a speedboat, traveling at speeds up to 40 mph, when Ellingson went into the water. Witnesses said the life jacket came off. Piercy tried to save Ellingson, but the Iowan drowned.

After an inquest, Ellingson's drowning death was ruled accidental.

That ruling was criticized by Randy Henry, a Highway Patrol official who was demoted after he criticized the agency's handling of the investigation and its training of new water officers.

Henry, who has since retired, said patrol leadership mishandled the case and called it a 'cover-up.”

A special prosecutor was appointed, leading to the involuntary manslaughter charge against Piercy, 45. The trooper is on unpaid administrative leave, and his case has a hearing approaching, the Star reported.

'The money isn't going to bring Brandon back, but at least that amount shows they are at fault,” Brandon Ellingson's father, Craig, told the Star. 'If they weren't at fault, they would have kept fighting us.”

He told the Post-Dispatch, he feels 'so bad for Brandon; he didn't deserve that. That's why our family fought the way we did. He meant the world to us.”