According to a report, a Memphis police officer took a photo of the 29-year-old father accused of killing Trey Nichols — bloodied and handcuffed — and sent it to six people as they brutally beat him, one According to the report.
According to an official document, Officer Demetrius Healey — who was fired after the killing — took two photos of a critically injured Nicholas Driver on his personal phone. Acquired by Memphis news station WREG.
The 30-year-old officer texted pictures of Nichols, who was propped up against a car because he was unable to sit up on his own, to two fellow police officers, a civilian employee of the police department and a female acquaintance, records show. According to .
A sixth person also received the photos, according to the document, which the Memphis Police Department submitted to a state board seeking to decertify and disqualify the five officers involved in Nichols’ death from working as police in Tennessee. .
Haley and four other officers — Tadarrius Bean, 24; Emmett Martin III, 30; Desmond Mills, Jr., 32, and Justin Smith, 28, are accused of killing Nicholas after pulling his car over near his mother’s home on Jan. 7.
Disturbing bodycam footage of the attack shows officers repeatedly punching, kicking, pepper-spraying and tasing Nichols for nearly three minutes, while he desperately calls out for his mother.
Videos of the beating released by the city last month also showed Haley standing over Nichols minutes after the beating. He can be seen shining a flashlight on Nicholas and appears to snap two photos with his cell phone.
Top row from left, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, bottom row from left, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith were all fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Haley said he sent a photo of Nichols, bloodied and handcuffed, to at least five people.
Nichols, a FedEx worker and photographer, died three days later at a local hospital.
Police said they pulled him over for reckless driving, however, the police chief has since said the department could not find evidence to support that claim.
Five officers were fired and each charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official coercion and one count of aggravated assault, officials said.
The video showed Haley standing over Nichols minutes after the beating.
Memphis officers are not allowed to use personal phones while on duty.
Haley shines a flashlight on Nicholas, who is standing next to a car, and appears to be taking pictures with his cell phone.
A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, who was not involved in the beating but fired the Taser at Nichols, was also suspended. He was recorded on bodycam footage saying, “I hope they kick his ass” in reference to Nichols.
Three members of the Memphis Fire Department were also fired for failing to properly assess Nichols’ condition after arriving at the scene.
Tyr Nichols was a 29-year-old FedEx driver and father of one with a passion for photography.
Nichols called out to his mother, who lived just yards away, while he was beaten by police.
He died in hospital three days after the beating.
Nicholas, a father-of-one, was remembered last week at a moving funeral service attended by 2,500 mourners.
“It’s just unimaginable for this to happen to him,” his grieving mother, Roe Van Wells, said during the service. “I promise the only thing that will keep me going is that I believe my son was sent here by God on an assignment and I think his assignment is now complete – and he’s going home. has been taken.”
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