Coroner: Autopsy shows 12-year-old shot in back
An autopsy Thursday showed that a 12-year-old boy who died after a police chase was shot in the back, leaving his family with questions as to what happened. “I don’t even want justice. I want the truth,” said Michael Hickenbottom, whose son, Michael Ellerbe, was shot and killed after what police said was a stolen vehicle chase Tuesday afternoon in Uniontown.
According to state police, two troopers – Juan Curry and Samuel Nassan – chased Ellerbe after he crashed the vehicle and tried to run away. During the foot chase along Murray Avenue, shots were fired and Ellerbe was struck by a bullet in the heart. He died later at Uniontown Hospital.
On Wednesday, Ellerbe’s family began to ask questions, saying they had heard the boy had been shot in the back by police. On Thursday, Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly told the boy’s father that an autopsy showed that Ellerbe had been shot in the back and killed when the bullet struck his heart, according to the Associated Press. Reilly said the bullet exited through the boy’s chest.
There also was evidence of a non-lethal bullet graze on his left arm, Reilly said.
State police, who have placed Curry and Nassan on administrative leave pending an investigation, refused to discuss the shooting Thursday and have released no additional information, including whether authorities believed Ellerbe was armed or what kind of vehicle was involved.
Hickenbottom said he was told the chase involved a truck, but he did not believe Ellerbe knew how to drive. “To me, it’s ridiculous that he was driving a truck and driving it so good that the chase lasted over a mile,” he said.
Police, Reilly and Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon are looking into the incident, but none would comment on the investigation Thursday.
“We do police ourselves, but we have different factions of law enforcement looking into it as well,” said trooper Brian Burden, a spokesman for the Uniontown station.
He said the department’s Bureau of Professional Responsibilities is investigating, along with Vernon and Reilly.
“I need to look at the full investigation and talk to the state police,” Vernon said. “It’s a tragic event, certainly. We just need to fully investigate it to ascertain exactly what happened.”
She also said any witnesses to the incident must be interviewed.
In the last 21/2 years that Hickenbottom spent getting re-acquainted with his son, he learned that the boy was “not a bad kid, just a wandering kid.”
Hickenbottom said he sent his son to New Directions, an alternative school in Perryopolis, because he “wandered” away from home and had a short attention span.
“He didn’t run away. He had a problem going out and staying out all night,” Hickenbottom said. “That’s why I put him in New Directions, so he wouldn’t get into anything like this. He’s not a bad kid, just a wandering kid.”
City police records show family members reported Ellerbe as a runaway three times this year.
Ellerbe was born in New Jersey, and then his mother moved him to South Carolina, according to the boy’s grandmother Mary Gibson, who came from her home in New Jersey to spend Christmas with her grandchildren in Uniontown. He began living with Gibson in New Jersey in 1996 and then was reunited with his father 21/2 ago. He has three younger brothers in Uniontown and an older sister in South Carolina with his mother. Hickenbottom also is from New Jersey.
“Michael was not a problem child,” Hickenbottom said. “He’d be here one minute and gone the next. Michael was a wandering soul.”
After the autopsy, which was performed in Pittsburgh by Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht, Reilly told the Associated Press that Ellerbe was “lean, lanky and a little bit tall” and added that he could probably pass for 15 years of age. Hickenbottom said he thought his son was about 5-foot-3.
Reilly told the news service that while it often takes months before a coroner’s inquest is held, he wants to schedule an inquest into Ellerbe’s death on Jan. 29 because of what he called the “complexity and confusion” surrounding the case.
He said he plans to take testimony under oath at that time.
The Muriel J. Lantz Funeral Home is handling funeral arrangements for Ellerbe.
The family is accepting memorial contributions to help cover funeral expenses. That fund is set up through Calvary United Methodist Church, 34 Clark St., Uniontown, 15401.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.