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 lawsuit filed by the family of Brandon Ellingson, the college student who drowned on May 31, 2014.

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

“In terms of the settlement, it is a bit of closure for them, and a resolution that the state of Missouri has agreed to a settlement of $9 million,” Boles said in a phone interview. “This case was never about the money, but as you know in any civil litigation, especially wrongful death, you can’t bring the person back, so the only way that we can compensate somebody is with a money judgment, or a money settlement. I think the $9 million speaks volumes for the liability and exposure that was there.”

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 on this matter.”

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.

The Star reported that Ellingson’s friends have claimed that Piercy tried to jam a buckled life vest on Ellingson, but the safety gear didn’t fit correctly.

“He tried to pull (it) over his shoulders . . . and was having a very hard time doing so,” Ellingson’s friend, Myles Goertz, told investigators, according to the Star. “. . . It clearly was not the proper way to wear a life jacket. It was not how the life jacket was designed to be worn.”

After his arrest, Ellingson went overboard off the patrol boat, and the vest slipped off. After an inquest, his drowning death was ruled accidental.

“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.”

Piercy, the trooper involved in the incident, was eventually charged with involuntary manslaughter. The Star reports that he has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, and his case, which has a new judge, has a hearing approaching.

In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Craig Ellingson, the father of Brandon Ellingson, said that he feels “so bad for Brandon; he didn’t deserve that.”

“That’s why our family fought the way we did,” he told the newspaper. “He meant the world to us.”

Craig Ellingson added: “I’d have given everything I owned to get my son back.”

(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Sarah Larimer

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