The death of Tyre Nichols is still having an impact on the justice system in Memphis, Tennessee.
According to ABC 24, the Shelby County District Attorney’s office has dropped 30-40 cases worked on by the officers who were charged in the death of Tyre Nichols.
The DA’s office reviewed around 100 cases shared between former Memphis Police officers Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr. and Demetrius Haley. From the 100, at least 30 cases were dismissed and around a dozen cases had charges reduced.
Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy’s spokesperson told AP that a lack of credibility from the former officers was the reason for the dismissals.
“DA Mulroy cites that the dismissals came down to the lack of credibility from the five officers since the charges,” Mulroy’s spokesperson, Erica Williams, said in the statement.
Tyre Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over at a traffic stop for “reckless driving.” Authorities said the incident occurred shortly after six officers from the department walked over to the young motorist’s vehicle and demanded he step out of the car.
Bodycam footage captured Preston Hemphill, the only white officer present during the fatal arrest, grabbing Nichols out of the vehicle before he was forced to the ground and given conflicting demands. Hemphill fired a stun gun at Nichols after he managed to escape from the police.
Sadly, the five Black officers caught the young motorist just steps away from his mother’s home. As they fought to detain the father of one, officers used a baton to beat him repeatedly. They used pepper spray and kicked him several times during the violent arrest. Nichols, an aspiring photographer, succumbed to his injuries three days later.
All five of the officers were charged with second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, two counts of official misconduct and one count of official oppression in the death of Tyre Nichols. Preston Hemphill, another officer involved in the incident, was not charged but is expected to testify in the case.
In April, a federal lawsuit was filed by the family of Tyre Nichols against the city of Memphis and its police department. According to the $550 million suit, the officers who brutally beat Nichols, causing his death, were “unqualified, untrained, and unsupervised” and the beating was the “direct and foreseeable product of the unconstitutional policies, practices, customs, and deliberate indifference of the City of Memphis and its police officials.”
According to WREG, there will be a severance hearing on Sept. 15 for the five officers charged. All defendants will be present and a trial date could be decided.
