Former officers Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty to the killing of Nichols, according to The New York Times. On Oct. 3, Haley, Bean and Smith were convicted of federal witness tampering charges in Nichols’ fatal beating. But they were acquitted of violating Nichol’s civil rights, which ultimately led to his death; he was only 29 years old. All three men still face state charges, including second-degree murder.

As Blavity reported, Nichols was driving home from work when officers stopped him on Jan. 7, 2023. He was aggressively pulled from his vehicle. The officers shouted inconsistent commands at him, making it difficult for Nichols to keep up. He was then pepper sprayed and shot with a stun gun before fleeing the scene out of fear.

Nichols managed to escape, but he was confronted by another set of officers, who were part of a unit called Scorpion — which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods. During the beating, Nichols repeatedly called out for his mother. The severity of the beating was omitted from the police report.

Throughout the trial, it was shared that one of the officers at the Memphis Police Department had a pact with his coworkers to keep illegal activities like excessive force just between them.

“I knew they weren’t going to tell on me,” Martin said on the stand. “And I wasn’t going to tell on them.”

 

In her closing arguments, Justice Department attorney Kathryn Gilbert said, “You know what these officers did and know it because you saw it over and over again. You can use your eyes. You can use your ears. You can use your common sense. You know what these officers did.”

Following the disappointing ruling, Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells and stepfather Rodney Wells remain hopeful.

“I’m actually in shock right now because I still can’t believe all this stuff is going on, that they all have been convicted,” RowVaughn told the New York Times.

Rodney added, “We’re all very, very happy that these guys have been put in jail. This is a long time coming.”

In January 2025, sentencing for the federal charges will commence. Haley, Bean and Smith face up to 20 years in prison if they’re convicted.