DA drops 30-plus cases involving Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols death

Doug Cunningham
·2 min read
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Shelby County, Tennessee DA Steven Mulroy has dropped more than 30 cases involving former Memphis police officers charged with allegedly murdering Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop Jan. 7. This image is from a video showing Nichols slumped against a police car. Photo via City of Memphis/UPI
Shelby County, Tennessee DA Steven Mulroy has dropped more than 30 cases involving former Memphis police officers charged with allegedly murdering Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop Jan. 7. This image is from a video showing Nichols slumped against a police car. Photo via City of Memphis/UPI

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The Shelby County Tennessee district attorney has dropped more than 30 cases worked by the five former Memphis police officers charged with second-degree murder of Tyre Nichols.

In a statement, District Attorney Steven Mulroy said his office reviewed roughly a hundred cases involving the officers.

In addition to the dropped cases, charges were reduced in about a dozen others.

Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley and Emmit Martin were fired and charged with second-degree murder in Nichols' killing after they beat him following a traffic stop and chase.

The officers were part of now-disbanded Scorpion police anti-street crime unit.

The City of Memphis released video footage recorded on police-issued body-worn cameras and a pole camera taken on the evening of January 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee, of the incident between Tyre Nichols and members of the Memphis Police Department, on Friday, January 27. The footage shows several officers kicking and punching Nichols, who could repeatedly be heard calling for his mother's help as officers beat him following a traffic stop. Nichols died three days later. Photo via City of Memphis/UPI

Mulroy said, at the time, "The actions of all of them resulted in the death of [Tyre Nichols] and they are all responsible."

The Justice Department opened an investigation into the Memphis police in July.

People gather Jan. 27, 2023 for a protest in Memphis following the release of video footage showing the Jan. 7 police beating of Tyre Nichols. The officers involved have all been fired and charged with murder. EPA-EFE/Tannen Maury
People gather Jan. 27, 2023 for a protest in Memphis following the release of video footage showing the Jan. 7 police beating of Tyre Nichols. The officers involved have all been fired and charged with murder. EPA-EFE/Tannen Maury

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement the probe is "to examine serious allegations that the city of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct and discriminatory policing based on race."

The Nichols family sued the police for $500 million over Tyre's death in April, alleging the cops acted like "a pack of wolves attempting to hunt down their prey."