After five Memphis police officers savagely beat unarmed 29-year-old Tyre Nichols within an inch of his life, one officer, Demetrius Haley, took two photos of Nichols lying battered, bruised and leaning against a police cruiser with his personal cell phone.
According to state documents, Demetrius Haley admitted to sending the photograph to five people, including two Memphis officers and a female acquaintance.
“On [Haley’s] personal cell phone, [Haley] took two photographs while standing in front of the obviously injured subject after he was handcuffed,” the 104-page report written by Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) reads. “[Haley] admitted [he] shared the photo in a text message with five people; one civilian employee, two MPD officers, and one female acquaintance,” noting that the officer’s “on-duty conduct was unjustly, blatantly unprofessional and unbecoming for a sworn public servant.”
A sixth person was later found to have received the same picture, but their identity was not revealed.
Haley is one of five police officers indicted on multiple criminal charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official oppression and two counts of official misconduct in connection with Nichols’s death.
Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean are facing second-degree murder and other charges. A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, was fired last week, and prosecutors said they are considering charges. Hemphill is white.
POST has requested to have now former officers Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin III decertified, preventing them from being able to police in the state of Tennessee. Seven additional MPD officers are being investigated for their involvement in the Jan. 7 traffic stop.
