As if the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols wasn’t horrifying enough, the murder trial against the cops accused of killing him exposed even more disturbing details from that fateful night. One officer said Nichols was beaten so bad, he didn’t even want to look at his battered body.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agent Derek Miller testified this week on what he discovered upon the investigation into former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith. The trio is facing second-degree murder charges in connection to the January 2023 incident. Previous reports and video evidence of the incident showed the three officers along with their other colleagues punching, kicking and pepper-spraying Nichols. Following that, the officers were seen jesting about the incident and laughing as Nichols was slumped on the ground. Nichols died three days later from his injuries.
The investigator stated that during the aftermath while officers waited for the medics to arrive, ex-cop Haley took photos of Nichols as he was sitting on the ground, propped up against the police car, per CBS News. Miller said Haley shared the photo 11 times and had eight different conversations about it.
A second TBI agent testified that another part of the incident that stuck out to investigators was the footage from the SkyCop camera showing the blows to Nichols’ head, per Action News 5. The agent replied affirmative to the question of whether authorities determined criminal behavior was involved in the footage of the beating.
That’s not the only tea to come out of the ongoing trial. Former officer Desmond Mills Jr. also took the stand this week against his former coworkers, expressing his regrets for failing to intervene in the beating, per CNN. While Mills insisted Nichols was actively resisting arrest, he also admitted that he grew angry after accidentally sprayed himself in the face with pepper spray instead of Nichols. After that moment, he said he struck Nichols three times in the arm with a baton while he was already being restrained by two other officers. Mills said he prayed for Nichols after seeing how badly he was battered by the group.
“I didn’t want to look anymore because it didn’t look good,” he said via Action News 5.
Dr. Marco Ross, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Nichols, testified that Nichols died of blunt force trauma and suffered tears and bleeding in the brain, per Action News 5. He said the injuries were consistent with that of a fatal car crash or someone who falls from a high height.
The cops on trial are only three of five who faced state and federal charges in connection to Nichols’ death. Desmond Mills pleaded guilty under agreement to testify against his colleagues. The final ex-cop, Emmitt Martin III, is to have his state trial severed from the other officers, the reports say.