May 7, 2025 - Politics & Policy

3 ex-officers acquitted of state charges in Tyre Nichols' death

Sareen Habeshian

A screen at the entrance of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church displays the celebration of life for Tyre Nichols on February 1, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. On January 7th, 29-year-old Nichols was violently beaten for three minutes by Memphis police officers at a traffic stop and died of his inju — A screen at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church shows an image of Tyre Nichols during a celebration of life on Feb. 1, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo: Lucy Garrett/Getty Images

Three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday of state charges in connection to Tyre Nichols' fatal beating, per his family's attorneys.

The big picture: A jury found the three men not guilty on all charges, including second-degree murder, in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died from his injuries days after he was violently beaten by officers during a traffic stop in 2023.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were convicted on federal charges last year, and still face the potential of time in prison. They have yet to be sentenced.

Context: The Memphis Police Department in 2023 publicly released graphic footage of the encounter between Nichols and the officers, spurring protests and horrified reactions from the public.

The police force fired the involved officers following Nichols' death.
Five former officers — Bean, Haley, Smith, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. — were indicted in state and federal cases in connection with the incident.
Mills and Martin agreed to plead guilty to the state charges and they didn't stand trial with the other men.

What they're saying: Nichols' family's legal team called the verdicts "a devastating miscarriage of justice" in a statement attorney Ben Crump shared on X.

Go deeper: 3 ex-officers convicted of witness tampering in Tyre Nichols' death

Add Axios on Google

3 ex-officers acquitted of state charges in Tyre Nichols' death

What to read next