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The Class AA felony murder charge against the man accused of running over 18-year-old Cayle Ellingson after a street dance in McHenry has been reduced to manslaughter, a Class B felony.
An order was signed and filed with the court on Monday by Wahpeton Judge Bradley Cruff to amend the charges against Schannon Joseph Brandt, 42, Glenfield, after a motion was filed by Foster County State's Attorney Kara Brinster. The lower felony limits Brandt's potential sentence to only 10 years. He also faces an additional Class B felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in a death.
Initial reports on the incident attracted national attention and caused a firestorm online after a North Dakota Highway Patrol report claimed Brandt called Ellingson a "Republican extremist." This claim was eventually undermined by the eventual review of released transcripts of Brandt's 911 call from that night. Because of the national profile of the story and the well-established relationships and connections between Brandt's and Ellingson's families, Brandt's trial was moved from Foster County to Wahpeton in January and is tentatively set to take nine days, beginning on May 30.