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By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN
(CNN) — Three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday of state charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, concluding a fraught two-year examination of the brutal encounter that led to a parade of firings, two trials and escalating demands for national police reform.
Five officers faced state and federal charges in connection with Nichols’ death in January 2023, but two – Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin – pleaded guilty and ultimately went on to testify against the three officers who maintained their innocence.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were found not guilty Wednesday on all state charges, including second-degree murder.
Though the three men still face the possibility of years in prison after being convicted on federal charges last year, they have avoided the harshest charges leveled against them.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized in critical condition after the arrest and died three days later from injuries sustained during the beating. Graphic footage of the encounter – captured by police pole cameras and body-worn cameras – was released to the public and examined in excruciating detail during both trials.
Nichols’ death fueled nationwide protests against police brutality, particularly against Black men, and heightened scrutiny of police in Memphis, a majority-Black city. All officers charged in the case were Black, and a Department of Justice investigation found the Memphis Police Department engages in “discriminatory policing of Black people.”
Sentencing on both the state and federal charges remain pending.
Here is what you need to know.
How a traffic stop turned fatal
Memphis police initially said Nichols, a father, skateboarder and photographer, was pulled over on January 7, 2023, on suspicion of reckless driving. Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis later told CNN authorities were unable to substantiate the reason for the stop.
Footage of the encounter shows officers repeatedly threaten Nichols with violence, even as he appeared to comply with their commands or was already on the ground. Disciplinary hearing records show Nichols was never told why he was being pulled over or that he was under arrest.
Nichols fled on foot after being yanked out of his car, pepper-sprayed and struck with a Taser. Five officers – those who were later charged – caught him and punched, shoved and kicked him in the face and head as he cried out for his mother.
Footage also shows officers standing around Nichols after the beating – some talking and laughing – and not appearing to render aid.
Nichols was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died three days later, on January 10. Medical examiners determined he died from blunt force trauma to the head. He had tearing and rupturing in his brain and had suffered cuts and bruising all over his body.
The officers involved
Six Memphis police officers were fired for their involvement in the fatal traffic stop. All but one – Preston Hemphill – were later charged at both the federal and state levels for their actions that night.
The officers were all part of the force’s controversial SCORPION unit – created to tackle rising crime in the city and disbanded amid national outcry and allegations of pervasive policing abuses following Nichols’ death.
None of the fired officers had previously been disciplined for excessive force, according to their personnel records.
Hemphill, who is White, was only present at the initial stop and did not pursue Nichols alongside the other officers, prosecutors said. He was not criminally charged but was fired and cited by the department for policy violations.
After Nichols fled, Hemphill was captured on bodycam footage saying, “I hope they stomp his a**.”
Haley was one of the first officers to make physical contact with Nichols, dragging him out of the car before officers Hemphill and Martin begin helping pin him to the ground. Haley deployed pepper spray and was later is recorded kicking Nichols in the torso alongside Martin.
Haley later admitted to snapping a photo of Nichols after he was beaten and sending it to at least five people, including two other officers, a civilian employee and a “female acquaintance.”
Moments after Nichols was brought to the ground at the second location, Smith and Bean were recorded punching him in the face.
Martin can be seen kicking Nichols as other officers attempt to handcuff him, then punching him in the face five times as officers hold Nichols’ hands behind his back.
Mills, who was only present at the second scene, pepper-sprayed Nichols twice and beat him with a police baton, video shows.
The charges against them
Nichols’ death fueled growing national outrage and protests against police brutality and led to both state and federal criminal charges against the officers involved.
Haley, Martin, Bean, Smith and Mills were charged by the state of Tennessee with seven counts each, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
The five officers were also indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of deprivation of rights, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
Initially, all pleaded not guilty but Martin and Mills reversed course, later accepting plea deals. Mills and Martin agreed to plead guilty to some federal charges, as well as all state charges, and did not stand trial.
The federal trial of Bean, Haley and Smith ended in a mixed verdict, with the officers acquitted of some of the more serious charges. All three were convicted of witness tampering. Haley was also convicted of conspiracy to witness tampering and violating Nichols’ civil rights causing bodily injury but was acquitted of the more severe charge of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death.
A Tennessee jury found Bean, Haley and Smith not guilty on all state charges.
During the state trial, prosecutors argued the officers used unnecessary force against Nichols, saying they were frustrated, angry and pumping with adrenaline after Nichols fled. They also said the officers failed their duty to intervene or inform medics that Nichols had bit hit repeatedly in the head.
The defense claimed Martin, who was not facing trial, was responsible for the majority of the violence and called several use-of-force experts who testified the officers on trial acted in compliance with police department policy and law enforcement standards.
What happens next
All five officers now await sentencing in both cases, though prosecutors have already agreed to recommendations of 15-year sentences for Mills and Martin.
In the aftermath of Nichols’ death, the US Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the city of Memphis and its police department. The report, released in December under the Biden administration, concluded that Memphis police engage in a pattern of excessive force, illegal traffic stops and disproportionate targeting of Black people in the majority-Black city.
The Justice Department recommended placing the police department under federal oversight, but city officials refused to enter an agreement with the federal agency over changes within the department.
It remains unclear what will happen to the Justice Department’s recommendations or negotiations with Memphis officials under President Donald Trump. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, a Justice Department official sent a memo to the agency’s civil rights division ordering it to halt agreements that may require reform in police departments.
Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, continues to press for justice and accountability from the police department for her son’s death, and has filed a $550 million civil lawsuit against the city and police department, saying Nichols’ death was the result of “ unconstitutional policies, practices, customs, and deliberate indifference by the City of Memphis” and its police leadership.
The civil lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in July 2026.
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CNN’s Nick Valencia, Ryan Young, Matthew Gannon, Demetrius Pipkin, Mark Oliver, Kenneth Uzquiano, Claudia Morales, Paul Murphy, Selwyn Rocha and Yukari Schrickel contributed to this report.
