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3 Tacoma officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis plead not guilty

Two Tacoma police officers are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Manuel Ellis, and one officer is charged with first-degree manslaughter.

TACOMA, Wash. — All three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis plead not guilty to charges in Pierce County Superior Court Friday.

Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died in handcuffs while being restrained by Tacoma police on March 3, 2020.

Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins are charged with second-degree murder, and Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter. All three officers voluntarily turned themselves in Thursday afternoon and were booked into the Pierce County Jail, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Burbank and Collins appeared before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Schwartz separately and both plead not guilty to second-degree murder charges. Rankine appeared in court and plead not guilty to the first-degree manslaughter charge.

Judge Schwartz set Burbank, Collins and Rankine’s bail for $100,000, respectively. All three officers were released from jail on bail Friday afternoon.

WATCH: Tacoma officers charged in Manuel Ellis death appear in court

Burbank and Collins are both scheduled to appear back in court on June 11. Rankine is scheduled to appear back in court on June 24.

All three officers remain on paid administrative leave.

On the night he was killed, Ellis was walking home when witnesses said he stopped to talk with Burbank and Collins in their patrol car. The officers got out of their car and knocked Ellis to his knees, according to probable cause documents.

RELATED: Washington's I-940 helps hold police accountable, but work still needs to be done

Other responding officers told investigators Burbank and Collins reported Ellis attacked the patrol car, but witnesses said they never saw Ellis strike the officers, according to documents.

Video footage taken by witnesses shows the officers repeatedly hitting Ellis, and investigators say Collins put Ellis into a neck restraint.

Rankine, who was the first backup officer to arrive, applied pressure to Ellis's back and held him in place while Ellis was "hogtied" with a hobble, according to documents.

RELATED: Seattle NAACP remembers those killed by police, calls for change

This is the first time the Washington State Attorney General's Office has criminally charged police officers for the unlawful use of deadly force.

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