Pretrial conference held for former officers charged in Tyre Nichols case

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A pretrial conference is being held on Friday for representatives of the three former Memphis Police Officers accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death.

This will be the last meeting before the federal trial begins and the three former officers face a judge and a jury on Monday morning.

The former officers accused of the crime are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith. If they are convicted of violating Nichols’ civil rights, all three could face life in prison.

At this time, it is unclear if the former officers will appear at the pretrial conference.

In January 2023, Tyre Nichols died in a hospital three days after being beaten by Memphis Police during a traffic stop near his home. Video and body cam footage of Nichols’ violent arrest was released by MPD weeks after the incident.

An autopsy report showed Nichols died from blows to the head, and that the manner of death was homicide. His family has filed a $550 million civil lawsuit.

Five now-former Memphis Police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith — were fired for misconduct, indicted by a grand jury, and taken into custody. Each is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct, and official oppression.

They have since been released on bond.

Bean, Haley, and Smith have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In November 2023, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said Desmond Mills pleaded guilty to federal charges and had agreed to plead guilty to state charges in the death of Tyre Nichols. Both federal and state prosecutors have agreed to a recommended sentence of 15 years.

“My use of force was excessive on Mr. Nichols and I did make misleading statements,” Mills said in court.

In August 2024, Emmitt Martin pleaded guilty to two of the four counts against him, excessive force and conspiracy to witness tamper. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the other counts and recommended a sentence not to exceed 40 years.

All five suspects still face an upcoming murder case at the state level.

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