MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Significant new documents related to the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis Police on Jan. 7, 2023, were released Tuesday by the City of Memphis.
The new documents detail personnel files and disciplinary records of the five Memphis Police officers charged in Nichols' death, several other disciplinary findings of MPD officers fired after his death, the four Memphis Fire Department employees fired in his death, and findings from the Inspectional Services Bureau.
A source familiar with the contents of the documents told ABC24 the findings are "significant."
You can view the files HERE.
“We understand the importance of releasing these documents to the public," Memphis Mayor Paul Young said in a statement after the document release. "This release represents our commitment to transparency.”
This comes after damning new video of the traffic stop released late January by the City of Memphis appeared to show the officers who originally pulled him over not having any idea of what Nichols was originally charged with.
The hours of additional content released by the City of Memphis showed multiple new angles of the deadly police beating not seen before, including new body camera footage and dash camera footage, and interactions between officers on scene.
You can watch the unedited video on the city's online portal HERE.
Nichols was beaten during the traffic stop on Jan. 7 and died three days later. Five MPD officers were fired and charged with killing Nichols, while a sixth was later fired for his involvement.
Witness: "Oh my god, I think he’s dead"
According to the documents, police spoke with a witness who lived in the neighborhood where the beating took place and shot video and photos of the scene. The witness said she saw Nichols lying on the ground, according to a transcript of the conversation.
“Dude wasn’t budging … I was like, ’Oh my god, I think he’s dead,'” the witness said.
The witness said an officer then removed Nichols' handcuffs and an emergency medical technician approached. At that point, it was clear something was wrong.
“The EMT guy lifts his hand, it falls,” the witness said. “It like fell real hard."
The witness added: “It just bothered me that everybody was standing out in the street. Had no care in the world that this guy was laying here.” Previously released video shows officers and other first responders milling about and talking among themselves as Nichols lay slumped on the ground.
Personnel files
Meanwhile, personnel files for Lt. Dewayne Smith, the supervisor on scene who was allowed to retire before he could be fired, show he had been arrested in 1999 in a domestic violence incident involving his wife and stepchildren. Documents show Smith’s wife called 911 saying he was intoxicated, armed with his service weapon and threatening her children. Investigators said they couldn’t determine if Smith had actually pulled his weapon. He was encouraged to seek counseling and placed on a 15-day suspension.
Nearly a year later, an unnecessary violence complaint was made against Smith after witnesses said he struck a man who ran from officers.
Deborah Godwin, Smith’s lawyer, said he was a dedicated officer for 25 years and that those two disciplinary issues do not represent his public service or have anything to do with Nichols' killing.
“Lt. Smith wasn’t present at the scenes and did not arrive until after the Emergency Medical personnel arrived,” she wrote in an email to the AP.
Initial incident report
An initial incident report for Nichols’ arrest, included among the latest documents, reasserts many now-disproven claims of the fired and charged officers.
It claims that after stopping Nichols for driving into oncoming traffic, he became combative, was sweating profusely and grabbed for an officer’s gun, prompting another officer to attempt to shock Nichols with his Taser. Videos released in the days after Nichols' death and statements from Memphis Police officials have debunked much of that narrative.
The report also states that once the officers caught up to Nichols on foot, he grabbed for their vests and service belts, and that officers responded by spraying him with a chemical agent, striking his right arm with a baton, and arresting him. Videos show a starkly different encounter — an almost 3-minute barrage of fists, feet and baton strikes to Nichols’ face, head, front and back, as he yells for his mother about a block from his home.
Internal affairs officers were called to investigate about three hours after the initial traffic stop, records show. Lt. Smith was in the hospital with Nichols and said he was in critical condition with “a bump on his head.” Smith mentioned officers' use of a stun gun and a Taser, but not the beating. Later at the station, Lt. Smith reported that he was told Nichols had grabbed Martin’s gun and Justin Smith’s vest and gun belt.
The internal affairs investigator reviewed the body camera footage of Officer Preston Hemphill, who was fired but not charged, and noted that Hemphill approached Nichols’ car with his weapon pointed. The investigator wrote of Nichols: “Non-violent. Complied with getting on the ground.”
Within three hours, the investigator told higher ups that six officers committed violations and must be relieved of duty. Deputy Chief Paul Wright approved the recommendation minutes later.
The day after the beating, Lt. Smith commented on some Nichols-related reports that he had seen no policy violations on body camera videos.
Where the trial against the former officers stands
Five now-former Memphis Police officers are charged with murder in Tyre Nichols' death.
One of the five officers charged, Desmond Mills, plead guilty to state and federal charges, with a recommendation of 15 years in prison on the state murder charge.
The federal charges against Mills concern his excessive use of force when he and four other charged officers beat Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023, and refused to give him medical aid. He is also accused of lying to his supervisors about the beating.
The other four former Memphis Police officers charged with second-degree murder in connection with Nichols' death are Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean.
They have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges including second-degree murder in the beating of Nichols after a traffic stop that was caught on video— and his death three days later. Nichols died of blows to his head, and the manner of death was homicide, an autopsy report released May 4 showed.
Three Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians were fired for failing to render aid to Nichols. Two Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputies who went to the location after the beating were suspended for five days for policy violations.
According to court documents, Haley and his attorney filed for a change of venue to one that has not been "infected" by media coverage to the degree that people in Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, and Lauderdale counties have experienced.
Haley's attorney also requested that the jury drawn would be more representative of the entire Western District of Tennessee than a panel drawn exclusively from the four counties of the Western Division.
The United States Constitution states that trials should be held in the district where the offense occurred. These mandates can only be disregarded if extraordinary local prejudice will prevent a fair trial.
A hearing for the motion has yet to be set.
During a 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 March 31, 2024. The trial remains set for Aug. 12, 2024, on the state charges. A trial date is set for Sept. 9, 2024, on the federal charges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.