UPDATE: Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were released on bond Thursday, according to online records. Read more.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — Five former Tennessee police officers were charged Thursday in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, according to online records.
The officers, who were fired after Nichols’ death, were booked into the Shelby County Jail on Thursday morning, the records showed.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were indicted by a grand jury Thursday and taken into custody.
Smith, Bean, Haley, Martin and Mills were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and official oppression.
Bond for Haley has been set at $350,000 and $250,000 for Bean, Mills, and Smith.
Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, three days after a traffic stop by Memphis Police that ended with Nichols severely injured in a hospital.
► Continuing coverage of Tyre Nichols Investigation
Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy immediately asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to conduct an independent investigation into the use of force by Memphis police officers.
The five Memphis Police officers were fired last Friday for violation of policy. City officials said they were notified Jan. 15.
On Jan. 18, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office in coordination with the FBI and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols.
Nichols’ family has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them. The family’s legal team said Nichols was returning to his parents’ home in Hickory Hill after taking pictures of the sunset at Shelby Farms Park.
They said officers beat Nichols for three minutes in an encounter they compared to the 1991 Rodney King police beating in Los Angeles.
Video of the incident has been released by Memphis Police to the family. Mulroy says the City of Memphis will release video of the incident “sometime after 6 p.m. Friday.”
“The world is watching us and we need to show the world what lessons we can learn from this tragedy,” Mulroy said. “I’m hopeful that we can show them who I know us to be: a community working towards positive change here in Memphis and Shelby County.”
David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, described the video as “absolutely appalling.”
“Let me be clear: What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong, and this was criminal,” Rausch said.
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis on Wednesday night released a more than four-minute-long YouTube video in which she describes the events surrounding Nichols’ death as “heinous, reckless, and inhumane.”
► Watch CJ Davis’ complete statement here
“Aside from being your chief of police, I am a citizen of this community, we share; I am a mother, I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us; this is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane; and in the vein of transparency when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves,” she said in part.
In addition to the five officers charged Thursday, Davis said in the statement that other officers also are under investigation.
Two Memphis Fire Department personnel also have been relieved of duty pending an investigation.
A GoFundMe page verified by a company spokesperson has been created to help support Tyre Nichols’ family. If you would like to donate, click here.
Watch Friday
► Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Chief CJ Davis will be guests on WREG’s “Live At 9” at 9 a.m. (CT) on News Channel 3 for their first local interview following the indictment of five Memphis officers.
