MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nearly a year after a beating by police led to the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, police documents reveal a seventh Memphis Police officer was fired for his actions the night of Jan. 7, 2023.
According to a Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) decertification request filed by Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis, officer Adrian Blakes was fired by Memphis Police on Feb. 23, 2023, for his actions on Jan. 7, the night Tyre Nichols was beaten.
Although the document does not expressly name Tyre Nichols or provide the address of the incident, it said on the night of Jan. 7, Blakes responded to a call for assistance involving a "foot pursuit of a subject that fled from officers." The document said, when he arrived to the scene with his body-worn camera activated, the camera captured "multiple" officers attempting to restrain the subject.
He then saw at least two officers kick the man while he was on the ground, and did not intervene in the situation, nor did he report this to the scene supervisor. The document then states Blakes did not tell investigators about the incident, and lied to them, denying he saw the officers do anything to the man.
The document states the man died on Jan. 10, the same day Tyre Nichols died from his injuries.
Blakes was fired from the Memphis Police Department on February 23, nearly a month after the public release of body cam video from Tyre Nichols' death, and C.J. Davis asked for him to be decertified as a police officer on March 3.
We've reached out to Memphis Police to confirm if this in fact was from Nichols' death.
Attorneys for former officers charged with Nichols' death in court
The news of a seventh officer fired from an incident the night of Tyre Nichols' death comes a day after attorneys for four of the five former Memphis Police officers charged with Nichols' murder appeared in court.
Tadarrius Bean, Justin, Smith, Demetrius Haley, and Emmitt Martin have pleaded not guilty to state charges of second-degree murder, assault, official misconduct, and kidnapping. They also face federal charges alleging they used excessive force and lied about the beating.
During the Dec. 4, 2023, hearing, both the defense council and the state discussed the evidence they were able to review in the case. The attorneys said each defendant received more than 300 hours of audio and video evidence to look over as part of the discovery process.
A motion filing deadline was set for February 2, 2024. The trial remains set for August 12, 2024, on the state charges. A trial date is set for May 6, 2024, on the federal charges.
A fifth former officer charged in the case, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty in early November to federal charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice. Shelby County D.A. Steve Mulroy said Mills also reached deal with the state to plead guilty to charges of second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct. A 15-year sentencing recommendation would cover both the federal and state cases.
The five officers, all of whom are Black, were fired shortly after the beating. Two other MPD officers were also fired, along with three Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians who were fired for failing to render aid to Nichols as he struggled with his injuries. All of them are also defendants in a civil lawsuit by Nichols’ family against the City of Memphis.
The five former officers who were charged were also part of the so-called Scorpion unit, a crime-suppression team that police officials disbanded after Nichols' beating.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it's launching a civil rights "pattern or practice" investigation into the Memphis Police Department and the City of Memphis.