Brandt sentenced to five years in Ellingson case

Nearly a year after 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson was tragically killed following a street dance in McHenry, Shannon Brandt was at the Foster County Courthouse in Carrington on Friday, Sept. 8, for sentencing.

Brandt was charged with murder after running over and killing Ellingson on Sept. 18, 2022. But, after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors in late May, 2023, Brandt's murder charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Class B felony.

Now, following the completion of a months-long presentence investigation, Brandt has finally learned his fate.

District Court Judge Bradley Cruff sentenced Brandt to 5 years imprisonment, with credit for 356 days served. Those 356 days include the 70 days Brandt spent in jail, and the time he spent under house arrest.

Under North Dakota law, Brandt is required to serve out 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, and following his eventual release, Brandt will be under supervised probation for three years and may not have contact with the Ellingson family.

Before imposing his sentence, Judge Cruff said he didn't believe Brandt intentionally killed Ellingson and mentioned Brandt's autism diagnosis as a mitigating factor.

However, he did say that Brandt's actions were nonetheless reckless, and that he wishes he could prohibit Brandt from consuming alcohol ever again.

"You recklessly ran him over, and you recklessly killed him," the judge said.

The maximum penalty for a Class B misdemeanor in North Dakota is 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $20,000, or both.

Brandt's sentence was handed down following several emotional testimonies delivered by the Ellingson family – all of whom asked that Brandt receive the maximum penalty.

When Elingson's mother, Sheri, stepped to the podium she spoke directly to Brandt himself.

"When you chose to take Cayler's life and happiness you took ours too," she said, fighting back tears. "You have caused our family endless pain and heartache and sleepless nights."

"You're nothing in my family's eyes and never will be," she later added. "There will never be forgiveness for you or your family, and we will never forget what you have done to our family."

Many members of both the Ellingson and Brandt families were present for Friday morning's sentencing, and many were holding back tears as testimonies were given.

Brandt, meanwhile, showed little emotion. He sat quietly and appeared to be listening to each testimony, perhaps even making eye contact at times with those at the podium.

Just before receiving his sentence, Brandt took the opportunity to speak directly to the Ellingson family.

"I'm here to take responsibility for the role I played in this tragedy," said Brandt. "I'm very sorry for the Ellingson family, my family, and anybody else who's been affected by my actions. I have always enjoyed seeing the Ellingsons, and would never have intentionally caused harm to any of them. I'm truly devastated by the impact this has had on the entire community and learned a lot of hard lessons as a result. Thank you."

Upon receiving his sentence, Brandt was led away by Carrington Police Chief Christopher Bittmann, before eventually making his way to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation where he will serve out his sentence.