The five former Memphis police officers fired following the death of Tyre Nichols have officially been charged with murder.
According to Fox13, Nichols died from injuries he sustained after two encounters with the former police officers. After the second incident, he complained he was having difficulty breathing, which led to him being taken to a nearby hospital. According to the autopsy report, he died due to “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”
After the Memphis Police Department completed an internal investigation, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were all fired 10 days after the 29-year-old died.
The former officers will all face the same charges: two counts of official misconduct, one count of official oppression, one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.
“I can’t stress this enough. We are moving as quickly as we can on this case. We understand that it’s in the public interest for us to get to the next stage of this case as soon as possible. Just stay tuned and be patient,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told Fox13.
In addition to the charges against the officers, Fox13 reported a federal civil rights complaint was filed against Haley in 2016 following a strip search that led to an incarcerated person being beaten to the point that he blacked out. The man later dropped the lawsuit.
On Wednesday night, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis released a video, in which she said that “these officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols.”
“This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane. And in the vein of transparency, when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves,” Davis said.
Furthermore, an investigation involving other officers who were a part of the confrontation with Nichols is underway. A federal civil rights investigation into those officers’ actions is also occurring. However, there has been no word on these officers’ possible charges.
Fox13 reported the city will release video footage of Nichols’ arrest after 6 p.m. CT on Friday.
