New files shed light on ’23 fatal beating by Memphis police
MEMPHIS — The city of Memphis on Wednesday released hundreds of pages of documents tied to the January 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by five police officers, including an account from a witness who saw Nichols slumped on the pavement and thought he was already dead.
The latest documents include personnel files for Memphis police and fire employees who were fired, as well as internal police investigation files, a witness statement and emails between city and police officials.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died in a hospital Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. The five officers who were charged in his killing are also Black.
Police spoke with a witness who lived in the neighborhood where the beating occurred and shot video and photos of the scene. The witness saw Nichols lying on the ground, according to a transcript.
“Dude wasn’t budging … I was like, ‘Oh my God, I think he’s dead,’” the witness said.
The witness said an officer removed Nichols’ handcuffs and an emergency medical technician approached. Then 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 chatting as Nichols lay slumped on the ground.
The documents also name the five other officers who violated department policies but were not fired.
Meanwhile, personnel files for Lt. Dewayne Smith, the supervisor on scene who was allowed to retire before he could be fired, show he was arrested in 1999 in a domestic violence incident. Documents show Smith’s wife called 911 saying he was intoxicated, armed and threatening her children. Investigators said they couldn’t determine whether Smith actually pulled his weapon. He was encouraged to seek counseling and suspended for 15 days.
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.
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.