Victim’s mom sings for Nichols
Tiffany Rachal, the mother of Jalen Randle, performed at the funeral for Tyre Nichols on Wednesday in Memphis, offering condolences from the podium to a fellow mother grieving the loss of a young son to police.
Randle, 29, was fatally shot in April by a Houston police officer who opened fire after a brief car chase while serving a warrant. Body camera footage released by the police department weeks later appears to show the officer, Shane Privette, shoot Randle before he can comply with demands to show his hands.
The funeral for Nichols, who was beaten to death by five Memphis police officers after an alleged traffic violation earlier this month, was attended by Vice President Kamala Harris and the families of other Black people who killed by police, including relatives of Randle, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
“I’m here to offer my condolences to you. I pray that God blesses you. I pray that God heals your broken heart. We are fighting together, and all the mothers all over the world need to come together and stop all of this,” Rachal said, about 30 minutes into the funeral at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis.
Then, with tears in her eyes, she launched into a rousing rendition of the gospel classic “Total Praise” by Richard Smallwood, singing powerfully to Nichols’ family. They applauded the performance.
Rachal, who sings in a Houston band called the Elements of Soul, told the Houston Chronicle that Ben Crump, the Nichol’s family lawyer who also represents Rachal’s family, suggested she sing at the funeral.
She said she picked “Total Praise” because her faith has been her greatest support since she lost her son nine months ago.
“Through it all with my son, if
it weren’t for praying and God comforting me, I don’t know what I would do. So I just wanted to tell her God was the source of our strength and the strength of our life,” Rachal said, citing lyrics from “Total Praise.”
In a similar vein, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at the funeral that “the only thing that’s keeping me going is that I truly believe that my son was sent here on assignment from God.”
Rachal noted that Memphis police were quick to fire the five officers who beat Nichols, and that the officers, who were Black, have already been charged with murder.
Meanwhile, Rachal said, she is no closer to getting justice for her son.
A spokesman for District Attorney Kim Ogg confirmed that the Houston Police Department delivered its finished investigation into Privette, who is white, but she declined to say when it might be presented to a grand jury, citing jury secrecy laws.
“We want justice and we don’t want to keep waiting on investigations. It shouldn’t take all this time to investigate a three-second video,” Rachal said, referring to the rough amount of time it took for Privette to get out of his vehicle and shoot her son.
“Justice needs to be done swiftly and it needs to be done now,” she said.