Five former Memphis police officers were indicted Thursday on murder charges in the death of Tyre Nichols, whose beating after a traffic stop was captured on video that “sickened” a top Tennessee law enforcement official.
Police had said that Nichols was supposedly stopped for reckless driving, but Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said early Friday morning an investigation and review of available camera footage had found “no proof” of that.
The officers involved — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — were fired after, Davis said, they violated department policies during the Jan. 7 stop that led to Nichols’ death.
All five former officers 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 aggravated assault, prosecutors announced.
“The actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters.
Second-degree murder, the most serious of the charges, “is a knowing killing,” Mulroy said.
Two of the officers, Mills and Smith, posted $250,000 bond and were released late Thursday. Haley, Martin and Bean remained in custody Thursday night, jail records showed. But as of early Friday, morning, jail records showed that only Haley remained behind bars.
