Hundreds gather at vigil for man who died while restrained by Tacoma Police

TACOMA - Hundreds came out for a vigil to honor Manuel Ellis at the location where he died three months ago during an encounter with Tacoma Police.

Family, friends and the community gathered at the intersection of 96th Street and South Ainsworth Avenue, the same location Ellis died on March 3rd.

"We were always together, he was my whole heart," said Ellis’ sister Monèt Mixon.

Mixon says she had to fight to get attention for her brother’s death and says she will continue to fight.

"I’ll keep pressing the issues, until I can’t press it anymore," she said.

Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards says the city also wants answers.

"We don’t know a lot. But what we do know, and what we have heard is deeply troubling to us," said Woodards.

She says this is already an incredibly frustrating time filled with anger and emotions, and this incident only adds to the unrest.

But she says the city needs to remain peaceful as officials work to provide answers.

"I want to say to the Ellis family, I’m sorry. Our city is sorry. Our council is sorry for your loss, but I commit to you as I talked to his sister this afternoon that we will dive in as deep as we need to dive in to get all of the facts," said Woodards.

Woodards says the hope is in the next few days they will be able to provide a timeline on when this investigation will be complete.