What are the charges against 5 former Memphis police officers indicted in Tyre Nichols' death?
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect attorneys retained by two of the former officers.
Five former Memphis police officers have been indicted on second-degree murder and assault charges in the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, a Black man. Officials say officers fatally injured Nichols during a traffic stop earlier this month.
Nichols, whose death is the subject of several local, state and federal investigations, "suffered extensive bleeding" from a severe beating, according to an independent autopsy described by the family's attorneys, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci.
Officers Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean were fired for department policy violations on Jan. 20 and indicted Thursday, about a week later. Each of the officers is Black. All of them posted bond Thursday.
Nichols was injured during the traffic stop and then hospitalized on Jan. 7, and officials launched an initial investigation the following day, Jan. 8. Nichols died Jan. 10.
Some of the officers involved have been identified as belonging to a Memphis Police Department unit called SCORPION, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods and coordinates with the area Multi-Agency Gang Unit.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis said late Wednesday additional officers are under investigation related to Nichols' death, announcing also a "complete and independent review" of all the department's specialized units, such as SCORPION. Two unnamed Memphis firefighters have been "relieved of duty" pending a department investigation.
"We all want the same thing," Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said to the Nichols family and the Memphis community Thursday. "We want justice for Tyre Nichols. It's my hope that if there is any silver lining to be drawn from this very dark cloud, it is that perhaps this incident can open a broader conversation about the need for police reform."
Timeline:What we know about the death of Tyre Nichols
What were the five officers charged with?
Each of the five officers were indicted on the same set of felony charges.
"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," Mulroy told reporters Thursday after the officers were indicted.
The charges include second-degree murder, which Mulroy called "a knowing killing," plus aggravated assault.
The former officers face two felony aggravated kidnapping charges, related to bodily injury and the possession of a weapon.
"At a certain point in the sequence of events, it is our view that if it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point and it was an unlawful detention," Mulroy said, describing the charge and the traffic stop. Officials have not described the traffic stop in detail, but say video footage is coming Friday. Mulroy said Thursday Nichols was pepper sprayed.
Charges also include official misconduct through unauthorized exercise of power, official misconduct through failure to act when there is a duty imposed by a law, and a related charge of official oppression, which Mulroy called a "knowing mistreatment" in carrying out official duties.
Who are the Memphis officers indicted, charged with Nichols death?
The five officers were indicted Thursday, less than a week after they were fired from the police department following an internal investigation. Several local, state and federal investigations into Nichols' death remain ongoing. Limited information was available about each of the men in public records reviewed by The Commercial Appeal Thursday.
Demetrius Haley
Haley, 30, was hired by the Memphis Police Department in August 2020, when he was 27.
In 2016, Haley was listed as a Shelby County Corrections officer in a federal lawsuit filed by a person incarcerated at the Shelby County Correctional Center, commonly referred to as the penal farm. Haley was accused of punching the inmate in the face during a random search. The suit was later dismissed.
Haley is posted a $350,000 bond Thursday.
Desmond Mills Jr.
Mills, 32, was hired by the Memphis Police Department in March 2017, when he was 27. Mills was part of the SCORPION unit, his attorney Blake Ballin told reporters Thursday. The former officer has previously been a jailer in Tennessee and Mississippi, Ballin said.
Public records show Mills owns a small company, D&M Relations, LLC, registered in Memphis. He has previously lived in Connecticut and West Virginia, where he was a collegiate athlete.
Ballin described Mills to reporters Thursday as a "gentle, respectful father" and "a family man."
"Not only is Mr. Mills obviously devastated to find himself charged with a crime, but as somebody who is on the other side of law enforcement, somebody who has been in charge of keeping our community safe, to be accused of something like this hurts him on another level," Ballin said.
Mills posted a $250,000 bond Thursday.
Emmitt Martin III
Martin, 30, was hired by the Memphis Police Department in March 2018, when he was 25. Martin was part of the SCORPION unit, his attorney William Massey told reporters Thursday.
"Any time a police officer is going to jail, it’s a traumatic moment,” Massey said of Martin’s experience Thursday.
Martin posted a $350,000 bond Thursday.
Justin Smith
Smith, 28, was hired by the Memphis Police Department in March 2018, when he was 23.
Smith posted a $250,000 bond Thursday.
Tadarrius Bean
Bean, 24, was hired by the Memphis Police Department in August 2020, when he was 21.
Bean posted a $250,000 bond Thursday.
Commercial Appeal reporter Lucas Finton contributed to this report.
Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tyre Nichols' death: What charges do 5 former Memphis police officers
