TBI USE-OF-FORCE CASE LEADS TO INDICTMENTS, ARRESTS
MEMPHIS – Five men, now former officers from the Memphis Police Department, face felony charges following an independent use-of-force investigation by special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
On January 8th, at the request of 30th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, TBI agents began investigating the circumstances surrounding the attempted arrest of Tyre Nichols, which occurred the previous evening. The first encounter occurred at approximately 8:22 p.m. during a traffic stop at the intersections of Raines and Ross Roads, in which evidence shows Nichols ran from officers during a physical altercation. A second encounter occurred a short time later around Castlegate Lane and Bear Creek Cove, which also included a physical encounter, after which Nichols, 29, was hospitalized in Memphis with critical injuries. On January 10th, doctors pronounced him deceased.
During the investigation, agents gathered evidence identifying Tadarrius Bean (DOB: 9/18/98), Demetrius Haley (DOB: 1/4/93), Emmitt Martin III (DOB: 6/11/92), Desmond Mills, Jr. (DOB: 3/13/90), and Justin Smith (DOB: 10/16/94) as the men who caused Nichols’ injuries.
Today, a Shelby County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging all five men with seven counts each: Second Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Kidnapping with Bodily Injury, Aggravated Kidnapping in Possession of a Deadly Weapon, Official Misconduct, Official Misconduct – Refrain, and Official Oppression. All five surrendered to TBI agents on Thursday morning, after which authorities booked them into the Shelby County Jail. Bond is set at $350,000 for Haley and Martin, and $250,000 for Bean, Mills, and Smith.
This remains an ongoing investigation.
