On Friday, 41-year-old Shannon Brandt, who intentionally killed 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson after deeming him a “Republican extremist,” in McHenry, North Dakota, in September 2022, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Brandt was originally charged with murder, but, in exchange for a guilty plea, had his charges reduced from vehicular homicide to manslaughter.
According to KVRR, Brandt’s prison term will be reduced by almost a year for time served under house arrest. After he is released from prison, he will be subject to a period of supervised release.
According to court documents, Brandt told police that he had killed the teen after they had an argument over politics. Brandt, who police say was drunk, claimed that Ellingson was part of a “Republican extremist group” and was urging others to attack Brandt after a political argument.
The killing came just weeks after President Joe Biden declared that “MAGA Republicans,” or people who support former President Donald Trump, represent a “threat to this country” and “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Ellingson’s killing, and the political motivation behind the incident, led many, including former President Donald Trump, to address the case. However, the North Dakota State Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that the death was accidental, although Brandt’s intentions may have been fueled by Ellingson’s affiliation with a local Republican group.
According to the Medical Examiner’s Office, Brandt was trying to escape a confrontation with Ellingson when he ran him over. A focal point of the case was Brandt’s autism diagnosis, which experts said impacted his ability to interpret social situations and prompted an exaggerated reaction and response to the confrontation with Ellingson.
State’s Attorney Kara Brinster alleged that Brandt’s statements to investigators didn’t align with the evidence in the case and that he didn’t take sufficient accountability for Ellingson’s death, leading to Judge Bradley Cruff’s sentence of five years plus another three on supervised release.
“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.
Ellingson’s mother Sheri asked Cruff not to follow the plea agreement and to give Brandt the maximum sentence for manslaughter, which is 10 years.
“Shannon, you took a piece of our family that’s not replaceable. When you chose to take Cayler’s life and happiness you took ours too. You have caused our family endless pain, heartache, sleepless nights. Our days, months, and years will never be the same because of your selfishness,” she said.
“I’m here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy. I’ve 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 prior to his sentencing.
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