Memphis Police Department
All five of the former Memphis officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols—a 29-year-old Black man who’s beating last month was captured on cameras and sent the nation into fury—pleaded not guilty to the charges against them in their first court hearing on Friday morning.
The suspects—Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr.—were arrested and indicted in January on felony charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
Following the officers’ arraignment, RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, said she still feels “numb” about her son’s death and that she’s living a “nightmare.”