Shannon Brandt, of Glenfield, ND, received five years in prison for running over and killing Cayler Ellingson, 18, last year.
Brandt pleaded guilty to manslaughter in May. He faced up to 10 years.
Brandt claimed he perceived the teenager as a “Republican extremist” who threatened him:
Brandt, 42, ran over Ellingson with his 2003 Ford Explorer on Sept. 18, 2022, in McHenry, North Dakota after an argument, prosecutors said. An arrest affidavit filed by a North Dakota State Patrol officer states that Brandt told a 911 operator that Ellingson “wouldn’t let me leave.” According to the affidavit, Brandt also told the 911 operator that Ellingson was calling other people to “get him.””He got on my vehicle and I couldn’t get him away from me,” Brandt said of Ellingson. “He was threatening me. He was saying something about some Republican extremist group, saying, ‘I thought he was part of us.’”Ellingson was taken to a local hospital with severe injuries and later died. Brandt initially left the scene of the incident but returned and called 911.
However, no evidence showed connections between any extremist group and Ellingson. The police also didn’t think the “incident was politically driven.”
I always wondered if Brandt made that claim because he thought it would help him avoid a hefty prison sentence.
The judge also gave Brandt “three years’ supervised probation and a yearlong suspension of his driver’s license.” From Fox News:
Foster County Judge Bradley Cruff spent a significant amount of time during Friday’s sentencing to address Brandt’s autism diagnosis, which experts believe caused an exaggerated reaction and response in the situation with Ellingson.”You didn’t intentionally run him over. I acknowledge that. I understand what the experts in this case are saying about how your mind work. 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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