Mother seeks to reopen case of son’s death after a decade of searching for answers
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POCATELLO — Ten years have passed since Michelle McDevitt’s life was shattered by a late-night phone call with the kind of news every parent fears.
Her youngest child, 17-year-old Charles “Seamus” McDevitt, was gone — killed after falling from the back of a pickup truck on Knudsen Boulevard in Chubbuck.
In the decade since that tragic night, McDevitt says the pain of losing her son and the way that it happened has never left her, nor has the feeling that the truth surrounding her son’s death has yet to be told.
Driven by grief, love, loss and what she believes to be a major injustice, McDevitt has spent the past 10 years investigating the case on her own.
Now, on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy and armed with what she says are key findings, McDevitt is seeking to have the case reopened and assigned to an independent investigative team with no ties to the Chubbuck or Pocatello police departments.
“I want to see the truth come to light and for all parties to be held accountable,” McDevitt said. “This is about making sure the system operates fairly, transparently, and without bias. No one should be above the law.”
Bright life cut short
The night of Aug. 14, 2015, Seamus was riding in the back of a Ford pickup truck with a group of friends on Knudsen Boulevard in Chubbuck when he fell out of the truck, ultimately dying from his injuries.
Investigators determined Seamus’ death was caused by severe head trauma from the fall. Postmortem toxicology tests showed he had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
Seamus, the youngest of four children, would have been a senior at Century High School that school year.
With evident pride, McDevitt said her son had never been in trouble and was looking forward to joining the U.S. Army after graduation, following in the footsteps of his father, James Padraic McDevitt.
“He was my baby. His deep love of country earned him the nickname ‘Murican Seamus’ long before most teens were thinking about politics or patriotism,” McDevitt said.
His obituary states that Seamus had an infectious laugh and a knack for adventure. He loved all things cowboy, could spend hours building his LEGO city, and found joy in hiking, hunting, and fishing.
Seamus is survived by his parents, sisters Ann Nichole Thomson and Michelle Elaine McDevitt, and brother Thomas Conn McDevitt.
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Seamus’s friend Jaron Heath remembers him on this 10th anniversary of his death, saying, “My favorite memories of Seamus were just his smile. He could really light up a whole room with the smile and the confidence he had. I also loved going swimming and cliff jumpin’ with him, as well as going fishin’ and living life as a teenager to the fullest. He would stick up for people if he thought they needed help, and was just a great friend for anyone to have. I miss him a lot.”
His cousin Cas Haley shared, “We (Seamus and I) would ride our bikes five miles to the mall, just to laugh and pretend we were brave, saying we were gonna talk to girls. Girls would walk by, and we’d freeze, too insecure and scared to say a word. But those rides, those laughs, they were everything. I’d give anything to ride beside you one more time, Seamus.”
As McDevitt tried to navigate the days ahead and come to terms with what happened, she found she had far more questions than answers.
She started asking questions of witnesses, some of whom were among Seamus’s closest friends, who gave her numerous conflicting accounts of what happened that night. The official reports and what she was hearing from witnesses weren’t jiving.
“I kept thinking, nothing adds up,” she said. “At first, I only had bits and pieces, but the more I learned, the more I realized there were serious problems in the investigation.”
Seeking solid answers
Frustrated with unanswered questions, McDevitt set out to learn how to interpret police procedures, reports and evidence for herself.
While she does not claim to be a professional, McDevitt studied investigative techniques, legal terminology, traffic accident reconstruction, and injury mechanics to gain a deeper understanding of the available information.
McDevitt and the Chubbuck Police report concur that a group of four teenagers — and her son, Seamus — were together riding in a Ford pickup truck on the night he died.
Video evidence shows the group stopping at McDonald’s in Chubbuck and attempting what’s known as the “coning trick,” where someone grabs an ice cream cone by the ice cream instead of the cone to surprise the drive-thru worker, creating a mess. The Chubbuck Police report also notes this incident.
The prank, often recorded for social media, was captured on a smartphone by the group. McDevitt viewed the video and learned it was taken just moments before her son’s death.
From there, the footage shows the truck driven erratically and at high speed through the drive-thru. McDevitt said she believes the evidence also suggests alcohol consumption by some underage individuals, possibly supplied by a sixth passenger — a 21-year-old male — though this detail is not noted in the police report.
After leaving McDonald’s, the truck headed to Knudsen Boulevard, where Seamus fell from the truck. The Chubbuck Police report states that Seamus “fell out of the truck and rolled.”
Those in the truck then picked him up, placed him in the truck’s bed, and called 911, according to the police report. When paramedics arrived, Seamus was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 911 call was dispatched to Pocatello. Although Pocatello officials initially denied this, both the Chubbuck and Pocatello police departments later confirmed that the call indeed came into Pocatello. However, McDevitt received an email from Pocatello city officials explaining that there was no saved recording of the call and it had not been translated, citing problems with the backup system. As a result, McDevitt never heard the 911 call from her son’s accident.
Multiple references in the Chubbuck Police report from witness accounts describe the driver “jerking the wheel” and “joking around.” A comment from the driver’s girlfriend that was posted on Facebook a day or so after the accident said, “He [Seamus] was riding in the bed of a truck driving around with friends and they were just messing around trying to make him [Seamus] fall on his butt, but instead he flew out, hitting his head and passed away on the way to the hospital.” EastIdahoNews.com has reviewed a screenshot of the social media post.
Since alcohol was suspected as a factor in the accident, the police report notes that the driver was taken to Physicians Immediate Care for a toxicology test. However, McDevitt says officials informed her that the toxicology results were lost, and the results are also marked as “lost” on the police report.
“I have proof of everything to back up what I’m saying,” McDevitt said. “This is not speculation. I don’t say anything that I can’t 100 percent back up.”
She said her investigation has been mentally and physically exhausting and deeply personal. She has conducted witness interviews and combed through stacks of documents, text messages, statements, and official reports, refusing to stop until she understood every detail.
“I’ve been told to let it go,” she said. “But how could I? My son’s life mattered. His death deserves the truth.”
“The integrity of our justice system depends on a thorough and impartial examination of all facts, regardless of who is involved,” she said. “I want to restore faith in the process and hold those responsible accountable.”
A call for accountability
Through her investigation, McDevitt says she went over grueling and heart-wrenching details of what happened that led to the death of Seamus.
McDevitt says she has uncovered two significant areas of concern that she believes no one has been held accountable for. She points to what she sees as clear evidence of criminal negligence, including an allegations that an adult provided alcohol to minors that night — actions she said she believes directly contributed to her son’s fatal injuries — along with possible coordinated efforts to obstruct the initial investigation.
She is also troubled by what she describes as serious procedural irregularities, such as the disappearance of key evidence, including the driver’s blood alcohol test and the lack of a thorough investigation into the events leading to Seamus’s death.
McDevitt is now formally asking for the case — filed as Case 15-C4217 — to be reopened and reviewed by an outside investigative team. She said she also wants a separate review into what she calls “police misconduct” that she said she believes compromised the original investigation.
McDevitt says she has reached out to the city of Chubbuck and the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney about reopening the case but received no response. At this point, she said she believes an outside agency should review the investigation to ensure impartiality.
“If the evidence shows individuals in the truck broke the law or caused harm, then charges should be considered,” she said. “If police made mistakes, they should acknowledge them, answer the unresolved questions and handle every piece of evidence with integrity.”
She stresses that this is not about targeting people out of anger but about making sure everyone involved is held to the same standard.
“It’s about acknowledging mistakes, correcting wrongs, and making sure this case is resolved in a way that respects the facts and the people affected,” McDevitt said. “There is nothing I have said that I can’t prove. I want justice for my son, and I won’t give up.”
Chubbuck Police response
EastIdahoNews.com reached out to the Chubbuck Police Department for comments on the case and McDevitt’s concerns. Chubbuck Police Chief Nick Sasser, who was not involved in the initial investigation, spoke on behalf of the department.
Sasser expressed his condolences and understanding to McDevitt saying, “As the father of a teenager about that age I can understand her concern from a parent’s perspective.”
Sasser said McDevitt has come to the department with many of her concerns since her son’s accident and that officers have been able to dispel them. However, he added that while it is “not” common to reopen cases this old, they are always willing to take a look at new evidence.
“If (McDevitt) feels she has new evidence to present to us we will listen,” he said.
Sasser declined to comment on the case further since he did not have the chance to review the case prior to EastIdahoNews.com’s inquiry.
“It’s unwise for me to comment on this 10-year-old case at this time without going over the details first,” he said.
EastIdahoNews.com also reached out to the Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney’s office about the possibility of reopening the case.
“In terms of reopening an investigation, that’s not something my office would decide,” said Jonathan Radford, assistant chief deputy prosecuting attorney. “That’s a decision the Chubbuck Police Department has to make.”
Radford said it would depend on the information as to whether or not they’d proceed with charges re-emphasizing that reopening the case is up to the Chubbuck Police Department.
Renewed resolve
On the 10th anniversary of her son’s death, McDevitt says the pain hasn’t lessened and neither has her resolve. In fact, she says her mission has never been more urgent.
“I think people in Pocatello are paying closer attention to cases after what happened recently with Victor Perez. Every life, and every loss, deserves a fair investigation,” she said, referring to a disabled 17-year-old who was gunned down by city police in a yard and later died from his injuries.
“Seamus was a bright star taken too soon,” she said. “I’ll keep fighting for him until the truth is known – not just for him, but so no other mother has to spend a lifetime wondering if justice was truly served.”
McDevitt says she encourages anyone with information about her son’s death — no matter how small it may seem — to come forward.
She said she hopes that those who witnessed events that night, or who may have knowledge that could aid in reopening the case, will reach out to her directly.
“If you know something, please speak up. Your information could be the key to finally getting justice for Seamus,” she said.
McDevitt can be reached at (208) 747-6639 or via email at justice4seamus@gmail.com