Tyre Nichols death: Five fired Memphis police charged with second-degree murder

Five fired Memphis police officers were charged on Thursday with second-degree murder over the death of Tyre Nichols – who died three days after being beaten during a January 7 traffic stop. 

Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith, who are all black, are now in custody. 

In addition to second degree murder the five were also charged with aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Court records don’t list attorneys for Smith, Bean or Haley. Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said they planned to discuss the charges at a news conference later Thursday.

Second-degree murder, described by the Memphis District Attorney as a ‘knowing murder,’ is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Tyre Nichols is pictured in hospital after the incident. The 29-year-old from Memphis died on January 10 from cardiac arrest and kidney failure, three days after he was pulled over for reckless driving by police in unmarked cars

Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr. were charged Thursday

All five former cops were detained on bonds of up to $350,000.  

Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx driver, was pulled over on January 7 by the Memphis police for what was initially reported as reckless driving.

That interaction led to a violent confrontation that put him in the hospital, where he would die three days later (January 10) due to ‘extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,’ according to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.

He reportedly suffered cardiac arrest and kidney failure following the allegedly brutal interaction with the officers.   

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told reporters that he and his wife RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are ‘fine with it.’ They had pushed for first-degree murder charges.

‘There’s other charges, so I’m all right with that,’ he said.    

He said he was ‘ecstatic’ that authorities have moved quickly in the case.

On Thursday afternoon DA Mulroy briefed the press, saying his team had moved ‘swiftly, but also fairly’ to review the case that led to the charges against the five officers.

He described the situation as a tragedy and Nichols as having been described as an ‘almost perfect son.’

Referencing the five indicted officers, he said, ‘While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible.’ 

David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said of the incident that resulted in Tyre Nichols’s death: ‘In a word, it’s absolutely appalling…What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal.’

He later added that after 30 years of policing, he was ‘shocked’ and ‘sickened by what I saw and what we learned through our investigation.’ 

Mulroy also announced that the bodycam footage of Nichols’ ultimately fatal arrest would be released to the public after 6pm on Friday. 

Nichols’ family and their attorneys have seen police video of the arrest, but the video hasn’t been released to the public.

Attorneys for the family Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci released a statement Thursday following the charges: ‘The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre. 

‘This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop. This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death.’

He told CNN’s Don Lemon that the indictment against the five officers ‘does not preclude’ indictments against others. 

Mulroy said on Tuesday that local and state investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and the family’s lawyers viewed it Monday. 

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This portrait of Tyre Nichols was displayed at a memorial service for him on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Family Attorney Ben Crump said police bodycam footage showed Nichols being shocked, pepper sprayed and restrained after he was pulled over minutes away from his home

LaRay Honeycutt, center, along with family members attend a memorial service for her grandson Tyre Nichols, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee

As state and federal investigations continue, Memphis Chief of Police CJ Davis promised the police department’s ‘full and complete cooperation’ to determine what contributed to Nichols’ death.

Crump, said the video showed showed Nichols – a 29-year-old FedEx worker and father – was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over for a traffic stop near his home. 

He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset. 

The legal team said officers beat Nichols for three minutes in a ‘savage’ encounter reminiscent of the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. 

Despite Nichols’ reported heart attack and kidney failure, authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.

When video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects the community to react.

‘I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand actions and results, but we need to ensure our community is safe in this process,’ she said. ‘None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.’

Kenyana Dixon is comforted during a rally for her brother Tyre Nichols at the National Civil Rights Museum on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023

All the officers, who were hired between 2017 and 2020, could face assault or homicide charges, District Attorney Steve Mulroy said (pictured L-R: Emmitt Martin II and Justin Smith)

Davis said the fired officers’ actions aren’t a reflection of the good work that many Memphis police officers do every day and she pledged to take action to make improvements at the agency.

‘It is my intent, as a proactive measure, to ensure that a complete and independent review is conducted on all of the Memphis Police Department’s specialized units and the commitment of my executive leadership to ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to in our daily encounters with the citizens we are sworn to serve,’ she said.

Two fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols’ arrest.

On Wednesday evening, Davis said in a statement: ‘In light of the horrific circumstances surrounding the death of Tyre Nichols, it is absolutely incumbent upon me, your chief, to address the status of what the Memphis Police Department is doing, has done, and will continue to do in furtherance of finding truth in this tragic loss, ensuring we communicate with honesty and transparency, and that there is absolute accountability for those responsible for Tyre’s death.’

On Thursday, Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen read a statement on the floor of the House of Representatives:

‘Right now, much of the national media is looking at Memphis as there was an awful killing of a 29-year-old African American man by five police officers within the last few weeks. The five police officers have been fired by the Police Department for violating their oaths…

It could be a situation where people want to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest actions of the Police Department, and people should. But they should be peaceful and calm.

‘We have a new D.A. We have a new US Attorney. And we have a new Police Director. They are the right people at the right time to bring about reform and to deal with this case to see that justice is rendered.

‘I grieve for the life of Tyre Nichols, whose life should not have been extinguished. He was an outstanding young man and it’s extremely sad that he was killed.

‘I pray for my city.’