All five of the former Memphis officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols—a 29-year-old Black man who’s beating last month was captured on cameras and sent the nation into fury—pleaded not guilty to the charges against them in their first court hearing on Friday morning.
The suspects—Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr.—were arrested and indicted in January on felony charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
The parents of Tyre Nichols take the stage with their attorney Ben Crump at a news conference in January.
Alyssa Pointer/Reuters
Following the officers’ arraignment, RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, said she still feels “numb” about her son’s death and that she’s living a “nightmare.”
She called out the officers for apparently refusing to look her in the face during the court proceeding—the first time she’s faced her son’s accused killers in person.
“I need each and every one of those officers to look me in the face,” Wells said at the press conference. “They haven’t done that, they haven’t had the courage to look me in the face after what they did to my son. They’re going to see me at every court date until we get justice for my son.”
After the suspects made their not-guilty pleas, Judge James Jones asked all parties involved in the case to be patient.
“We understand that there may be some high emotions in this case, but we ask that you continue to be patient with us,” Jones said. “Everyone involved wants this case to be concluded as quickly as possible. But it’s important for you all to understand that the state of Tennessee as well as each one of these defendants have an absolute right to a fair trial.”
Jones said he “will not allow any behavior” that might “jeopardize” the legitimacy of the trial for the five officers.
The second-degree murder charge the group faces carries a sentence of 15 to 60 years in prison.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over for allegedly driving recklessly—an encounter that Nichols fled from after it quickly turned violent, footage released by the police department shows.
After fleeing on foot, a group of officers from the city’s since-disbanded SCORPION unit tracked Nichols down and began mercilessly beating him, video shows. Authorities say it was this assault that killed Nichols.
Footage from both security cameras and officers’ body cameras show that Nichols never attempted to fight back as he was beaten.
The officers involved have been free on bond since their arrest last month.
Bean, Martin III, Haley, Smith, and Mills Jr. were promptly fired and charged after the beating. A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, was later fired but not criminally charged for his handling of Nichols’ initial traffic stop. Bodycam footage captured him using a taser on Nichols and later declaring, “I hope they stomp his ass.”
An attorney for the Nichols family, Ben Crump, said Friday that all rumors surrounding a personal feud between Nichols and one of the officers aren’t true.
“All these rumors that are circulating are bogus and untrue,” Crump said.
Nichols’ father, Rodney Wells, said Friday is a “glorious day” because it’s the first step in obtaining justice for his son. Crump said he hopes the trial will be completed within the year, just as George Floyd’s killer was promptly convicted in 2020.
“We have video,” Crump said. “When people in our community do something on video it doesn’t take a lot of time to prosecute them.”
