- Michelle McDevitt seeks to reopen her son Seamus' death case after 10 years.
- Seamus died from head trauma after falling from a pickup truck in 2015.
- McDevitt believes new evidence warrants an independent investigation, citing inconsistencies in witness accounts.
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, Idaho.
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.
Seamus' 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 5 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' 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.
