Five former Memphis police officers charged with the murder of 29-year-old black Tyre Nichols pleaded not guilty at the first trial.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith appeared before a Shelby County Criminal Court Judge.
The officers were released following an internal police investigation into the Jan. 7 arrest of FedEx employee Nichols, who died in hospital three days later.
Last month, heartbreaking footage surfaced of him being beaten by police while calling for his mother, who later revealed he was only 73 meters from her home.
The officers pleaded not guilty to the charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, misconduct, and suppression of office.
Mr. Nichols’ mother, Rowan Wells, and his stepfather, Rodney Wells, appeared in court along with their attorney, civil rights attorney Ben Crump. “I have a hearing impairment; just a sedative,” said Ms. Wells.
Mr. Nichols was reportedly pulled over by Memphis police but taken out of his car, verbally abused and beaten, leaving him in critical condition.
The Memphis Police Department initially claimed that he was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis Police Commissioner Serelyn Davis later stated after viewing footage of the incident that they were unable to determine a “probable cause” that could be proven.
Allegations that he was under the influence of drugs and attempted to get hold of one of their pistols are not supported by any footage.
Ms Wells described her son as a “beautiful soul” who has her name tattooed on his arm.
“No one is perfect, no one,” she said, “but he was damn close to it. He was damn near perfect.
In a vivid account of her visit to her son in the hospital, Ms Wells said: “He was covered in bruises.
“My head is swollen like a watermelon. His neck broke from a tumor. They broke his neck.
“My son’s nose is like the letter S. He was just beaten.”
Source: I News
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