Five former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers were in custody Thursday in connection with the death of Tire Nichols, jail records showed.
The officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith, were fired Friday after Police Chief CJ Davis said they violated department policies during a traffic stop on Jan. 7. which led to Nichols’ death.
Martin, Smith and Bean were charged with second-degree murder, three counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of concerted action to commit aggravated assault, according to Shelby County jail records.
Mills and Haley were charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression, and one count of concerted action to commit aggravated assault.
“They were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” Davis said in a video statement Wednesday night
The first results of an autopsy show that Nichols was severely beaten before he died, lawyers for his family said Tuesday.
He Nicholas, 29 years old. died on January 10, days after the confrontation with the police that landed him in the hospital.
Nichols had been pulled over in the Hickory Hill neighborhood of Memphis for alleged reckless driving, authorities said. A «confrontation» ensued, the department said at the time, and officers pursued Nichols as he fled on foot. As he tried to stop him, another confrontation ensued and Nichols complained of having difficulty breathing, the department said.
Authorities have not provided details about the standoff.
A photo provided by his stepfather showed Nichols hospitalized with blood on his face and what appeared to be a swollen eye.
Nichols’ family and his attorneys, Benjamin Crump and Antonio Romanucci, viewed body camera footage of the encounter, though that video has not yet been made public.
Romanucci described it as a «non-stop, brazen, unadulterated beating» for three minutes, saying officers allegedly treated Nichols like a «human piñata.»
Lawyers for the family compared the footage to “the Rodney King video,” referring to a 1991 bystander video of Los Angeles police officers beating a black man.
In Wednesday’s video statement, Davis called the incident «egregious, reckless and inhumane,» conduct that he said people will be able to see for themselves when video of the arrest is released in the coming days.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.
