Three Memphis officers on trial in connection with the death of Tyre Nicholswere convicted on charges related to the fatal 2023 beating but were acquitted on the most serious counts.
Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were all convicted of witness tampering in federal court, according to a copy of the verdict reviewed by PEOPLE. Haley was also convicted of violating Nichols’ civil rights by causing bodily injury and of conspiring to witness tamper, charges on which Smith and Bean were acquitted.
All three officers were acquitted of the most serious charge, which was violating civil rights causing death, which could have resulted in a life sentence.
The beating of Nichols by police officersfollowing a traffic stop was captured in video footage eventually released by the city of Memphis.
Prosecutors had accused officers Bean, Haley and Smith of unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid, in addition to violating Nichols’ civil rights.
“Tyre Nichols should be alive today,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement, reported by the Associated Press. “We hope this prosecution provides some measure of comfort as the law enforcement officers tied to his death have been held accountable.”
The witness tampering charges could carry up to 20 years in prison, the AP reported.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who worked for FedEx, died three days after the beating. The vicious beating, the footage of which was viewed by PEOPLE, occurred after he ran from a traffic stop.
The beating lasted around three minutes, during which Nichols was punched in the head after he had collapsed to the ground.
A total of five police officers were indicted on both state and federal charges. The state charges against the officers include charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and several counts of official misconduct and official oppression, according to officials in Shelby County.
Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith.
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office via AP
The other two officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin III, avoided federal trials after entering guilty pleas.
Mills pleaded guilty to several charges as part of a global settlement with state and federal prosecutors in September 2023, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office previously said. Prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In a statement following Mills’ guilty plea, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy called it a “fair result.”
“[Mills’] cooperation will help us bring to justice all those criminally responsible while also identifying needs for systemic reform within the police department,” Mulroy said.
Martin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights and conspiracy charges, the same as Mills, in August 2024, the Department of Justice said. He entered his plea just weeks before his trial was set to begin.
State proceedings against Bean, Haley and Smith had been expected to resume after the federal trial, The New York Timesreported.
All five officers charged in connection with Nichols’ death were fired in the aftermath of the incident, as were two Memphis firefighters involved in treating Nichols immediately after the beating, as previously reported.
At a press conference following Nichols’ death, covered by WMC-TV, his mother, Ravaughn Wells called her son a “beautiful soul.”
“I don’t care what color — Black, White, pink, purple, [people] should [never] go through this,” Wells said. “My son didn’t do no drug[s], didn’t carry no guns, he didn’t like confrontation, none of that, that’s why this is so hard.”
Following the verdict in the federal trial, Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells spoke to the AP outside the courthouse.
“A win is a win,” he reportedly said. “They’re all going to jail.”
