The five officers who mercilessly pummeled Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop earlier this month have each bonded out of jail. The beloved father passed away three days after the violent encounter.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith were each terminated from the Memphis Police Department in connection with the Jan. 7 incident. On Thursday (Jan. 26), Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy indicted the former SCORPION unit members on the following charges: second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. They will be arraigned during their first court appearance on Feb. 17.
Each of the men bonded out of jail by Friday (Jan. 27), the same day the department released bodycam and neighborhood surveillance footage of the beating to the public. Attorney William Massey represents disgraced ex-officer Martin. He said that none of the men acted with the intention of killing Nichols.
“No one. No one. Police officers have a difficult and dangerous job. It’s probably one of their worst fears that something like this would happen on their watch,” claimed Massey when he spoke with reporters. According to CBS News, Martin posted a $350,000 bond, while the other four posted $250,000 bonds.
Ex-cop Haley was involved in an excessive force case in 2016. He was working for the Shelby County Division of Corrections at the time when he and another corrections officer were accused of punching inmate Cordarlrius Sledge in the face. A third officer was accused of slamming Sledge’s head into the ground, causing him to lose consciousness. The claims were only dismissed because Sledge failed to file a grievance within 30 days of the alleged incident.
Two deputies with the county sheriff’s office have also been “relieved of duty” pending an investigation into their response at the scene of the beating. The Memphis Fire Department took similar action by placing two EMTs on suspension while their actions on that fateful day were investigated.
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