FOG BLOG U.S. NEWS LOG: 5 FIRED MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICERS CHARGED WITH MURDER IN TYRE NICHOLS DEATH!

Five former Memphis police officers indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in Tyre Nichols’ death

Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday.

The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmit Martin, and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy 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,” he said. Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.

The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.

All five officers are in custody, Mulroy added. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They were booked into the Shelby County Jail, and bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, Mills, 32, and Smith, 28, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.