Five Memphis Police officers involved in a traffic stop that preceded the hospitalization and subsequent death of a 29-year-old man were fired Friday night.
The police department said in a statement that the officers, who have been on the force between two and a half and five years, violated several department policies, including in the use of force, failure to render aid and their duty to intervene. Tire D. Nichols of Memphis died three days after the traffic stop.
“Earlier today, each of the officers charged was fired from the Memphis Police Department,” a written statement from Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said. “The serious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the excellent work that our officers do with integrity, every day.”
The charges Davis cited are internal, departmental charges, not criminal.
Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith were all fired Friday evening. They have been with the post since August 2020, August 2020, March 2018, March 2017, and March 2018 respectively.
The officer’s release follows a nearly two-week internal investigation into a possible policy violation that occurred during a traffic stop.
“Seeing their faces makes me angry,” said Keyana Dixon, Nichols’ sister. “I’m trying to hold it together, but my heart has been ripped open. It’s torture.”
Jamal Dupree, one of Nichols’ older brothers, and Angelina Paxton, one of Nichols’ longtime friends, said they were both disappointed by the officers involved.
“Knowing the history of police interactions with the Black community throughout time, these people took positions of power and instead of doing something for a better future and honoring the past, they are no better than the time of Emmett Till,” Dupree and Paxton. said in a joint statement. “They have let us all down. Justice will be served to them.”
Nichols died Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over in a traffic stop.
According to a statement from the Memphis Police Department, officers pulled Nichols over around 8:30 pm on January 7 and a “confrontation” ensued. Nichols eventually escaped, but was later arrested. Officers said no “confrontation” occurred at the time, but he was taken into custody.
After this, police said Nichols “complained of a shortness of breath,” and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition.
A picture of Nichols shared with the public shortly after his death showed an intubated Nichols. His face is disfigured from a combination of significant welts. His nose almost bends into an “s” shape. Blood was seen on the intubation tube and on his hospital sheets.
Family members of Nichols said he suffered multiple injuries, including kidney failure and brain swelling. He was hooked to a dialysis machine before his death, said Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather.
The officers involved were placed on leave and an internal investigation was opened by the city and police department. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was immediately called to investigate the officers’ “use of force” in the stop by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
The federal investigation will be announced just over a week after Nichols’ death, with the United States Attorney’s Office, the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division saying investigations into possible civil rights violations by the officers are underway.
Responses from public officials, including Davis, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, have urged patience among the public as the internal investigation unfolds.
Families and community members are demanding transparency, including the immediate release of images recorded during traffic stops.
The footage was scheduled to be released early Monday, according to a city spokeswoman, but will be viewed first by the Nichols family before being released publicly. The original announcement that the image would be released publicly came just minutes before a memorial service for Nichols.
The family also demanded that all the officers involved be charged with “murder,” Wells said at the memorial service.
Nichols was remembered by friends and family as someone who would “light up the room” when he walked in. Paxton said Nichols died in a “dark way” for someone who had “this light”.
Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
