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  • Memphis Is On Edge Ahead Of Release Of ‘Heinous’ Video Of Police Beating Tyre Nichols

    Memphis Is On Edge Ahead Of Release Of ‘Heinous’ Video Of Police Beating Tyre Nichols

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    Memphis authorities will release body camera footage Friday night of police beating Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died three days after his Jan. 7 arrest for an alleged traffic violation. The city’s police chief warned Thursday that the footage will depict violence that is “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

    “I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights, as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video statement.

    She urged residents to remain calm in the wake of the video’s release, something Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy met with activists to request as well. On Thursday, President Joe Biden called for peaceful protests.

    Davis and prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump compared the video to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police, which sparked mass protests and riots when the officers involved were acquitted.

    In the Nichols case, five officers ― Desmond Mills, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin ― were identified for their involvement. They were fired from the department on Monday.

    On Thursday, a grand jury charged them with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, one count of official oppression, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. The former cops bonded out of jail later that day.

    An independent autopsy commissioned by the family indicated Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to Crump and attorney Antonio Romanucci, who are representing the family. Nichols’ family and attorneys viewed body camera footage of the beating earlier this week.

    Davis said Friday morning that while police initially said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving, she now believes there is no evidence for that allegation.

    The incident became a harsh reminder that police in the city regularly use excessive force on Black residents, who make up 63% of its population. It was not the first time a traffic stop has turned either violent or fatal in Memphis, and a study found that Black drivers were stopped there at disproportionate rates. Driving while Black in Memphis and the state of Tennessee have been costly, and at times deadly, for residents.

    Moreover, emerging details suggest the five officers were not random bad apples, but rather part of the department’s controversial SCORPION unit. Nichols’ family and local activists are already calling for the unit to be broken up.

    A Pattern Of Bias

    From 2017 to 2021, Black drivers were twice as likely to receive multiple citations on one ticket, according to a study conducted by the criminal justice advocacy group Decarcerate Memphis.

    Additionally, in a sample of 487 criminal court cases that stemmed from traffic stops in 2019 and 2021, about 90% of defendants were found to be people of color, with the majority of them facing misdemeanor charges. Prosecutors later dropped two-thirds of those cases.

    Decarcerate Memphis organizer Chelsea Glass said the group presented the information to the city council and public officials last year, but that they were ignored.

    Traffic stops have turned fatal before. A city police officer pulled over Martavious Banks in 2018 for an alleged lack of car insurance. Police shot him 20 times; he survived and settled a lawsuit against the city in 2021.

    Also in 2018, police pulled over D’Mario Perkins because they said his license plate was not registered to his vehicle. Perkins told officers he was suicidal, but during a confrontation, they shot him 10 times. He died at the scene and the officers were never charged.

    “In the case of Tyre Nichols, it is a culmination of all of the things we have warned them about,” Glass told HuffPost.

    A portrait of Tyre Nichols is displayed at a memorial service on Tuesday in Memphis.

    Adrian Sainz/Associated Press

    The Decarcerate Memphis analysis also found that the state suspended driver’s licenses mainly for unpaid traffic debt, and that more than 93 percent of residents with non-reinstated licenses in the state were living in poverty. Revenues from traffic fines in Memphis increased from $10 million in 2009 to $13 million.

    Last year, Tennessee instituted a law on reckless driving that lawmakers claimed would help prevent road rage incidents. The bill made reckless driving a class A misdemeanor.

    But Glass argued the law criminalizes Black drivers and gives police too much leeway to over-charge people for crimes while driving.

    “There is a whole lot of scare tactics and fear campaigns going on around people speeding and actual reckless driving,” Glass said.

    An Aggressive Unit

    Police launched the SCORPION unit in November 2021, utilizing an acronym that stands for Streets Operation to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods. It was ostensibly designed to address violent crime, but developed into what critics see as a rogue police force unit with a harsh bias toward Black residents of Memphis.

    When the unit initially launched, it claimed to have taken 29 guns off the streets and arrested 30 people over just a three-day span. Within three weeks of the unit’s inception, it made 338 arrests, including for 125 felony offenses, and recovered 95 weapons.

    On Thursday night, Crump and Romanucci penned a letter comparing SCORPION to the widely criticized Gun Trace Task Force in Baltimore and a similar roving unit in Chicago, where officers were involved in robberies and home invasions. They demanded that the city disband the unit.

    In SCORPION’s case, officers operated in unmarked cars targeting specific areas, often predominantly Black neighborhoods.

    Pastor Andre Johnson speaks at a candlelight vigil for Tyre Nichols. Officials expect further protests after police release footage of the beating.
    Pastor Andre Johnson speaks at a candlelight vigil for Tyre Nichols. Officials expect further protests after police release footage of the beating.

    Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via Associated Press

    The unit appeared to be targeting residents during traffic stops as recently as two months before Nichols’ arrest, according to court documents found by HuffPost.

    In some cases, the unit loaded up charges that were later dropped. Back in October, all five officers in Nichols’ case were present when officers stopped a man named Jamarian Johnson due to a “strong odor” of marijuana coming from his car.

    The officers said they discovered marijuana paraphernalia and a handgun in the vehicle and later accused Johnson of using the vehicle to transport drugs. Police charged Johnson with evading arrest; possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver; and unlawful possession of a weapon.

    But on Jan 19, prosecutors dropped the case against Johnson. HuffPost reached out to MPD about the arrest but did not get a response.

    Another man, Cornell McKinney, told local station WREG that the same unit stopped him on Jan. 3, three days before Nichols was pulled over.

    Mckinney said they approached him in unmarked cars and didn’t initially say what the stop was for, though they later accused him of carrying drugs. He said their vests said “MPD SCORPION UNIT” on the back.

    When McKinney asked for a lawyer, he said that one officer told him, “This ain’t court. This ain’t the time for lawyers.” The police eventually let McKinney leave the scene without any charges, he said.

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  • A timeline of the investigations into Tyre Nichols’ death after a traffic stop and arrest by Memphis police | CNN

    A timeline of the investigations into Tyre Nichols’ death after a traffic stop and arrest by Memphis police | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Nearly three weeks after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, resulted in a violent arrest and subsequent death of a driver, police are expected to release footage of the incident to the public.

    Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after the arrest on January 7 and died three days later from injuries sustained, according to police. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department, who are also Black, were fired and face criminal charges.

    The family of Nichols and attorneys have met with police and city officials to view the traffic stop’s video recordings, which have been described as a vicious, prolonged beating that lasted for minutes after officers chased down a fleeing Nichols.

    Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis decried the officers’ conduct, adding additional officers continue to be investigated.

    “This is not just a professional failing,” Davis said. “This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane. And in the vein of transparency, when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves.”

    After charges were announced Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said of the accelerated investigation, “We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously.”

    Here’s what we know about the timeline of the incident, investigations from authorities and reaction from Nichols’ family:

    On January 7 at approximately 8:30 p.m., officers pulled over a vehicle for suspected reckless driving, according to a statement from Memphis police.

    “A confrontation occurred” between officers and the vehicle’s driver – later identified as Nichols – who then fled on foot, according to Memphis police. Officers apprehended him and “another confrontation occurred,” resulting in Nichols’ arrest, police said.

    An ambulance was called to the scene of the arrest after Nichols complained of shortness of breath, police said, and he was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

    On January 10, three days after the stop, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Nichols had died due to injuries sustained in the “use-of-force incident with officers,” according to a statement.

    Following the traffic stop, the officers involved were relieved of duty – a standard departmental procedure while an investigation into their use of force began, Memphis police said. The TBI and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office were also enlisted to investigate.

    Preliminary findings indicated the serious nature of the officers’ conduct during the stop, police said.

    “After reviewing various sources of information involving this incident, I have found that it is necessary to take immediate and appropriate action,” Chief Davis said in a statement released January 15. “Today, the department is serving notice to the officers involved of the impending administrative actions.”

    The department needed to follow a required procedural process before disciplining or terminating government civil servant employees, the statement added.

    In the days after Nichols’ death, his family’s attorney Ben Crump repeatedly voiced their desire for the release of body camera and surveillance footage of the traffic stop.

    “This kind of in-custody death destroys community trust if agencies are not swiftly transparent,” Crump said in a statement.

    On January 18, the Department of Justice said a civil rights investigation has been opened into the death of Nichols.

    “Last week, Tyre Nichols tragically died, a few days after he was involved in an incident where Memphis Police Department officers used force during his arrest,” Kevin G. Ritz, US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said in a statement.

    Acknowledging the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s ongoing efforts, the US Attorney’s office “in coordination with the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, has opened a civil rights investigation,” Ritz said, declining to provide further details.

    After its internal investigation, Memphis police identified and fired five officers involved in the traffic stop due to their violation of multiple department policies.

    Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith were terminated for failing in their “excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” the department said in a statement.

    “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers perform, with integrity every day,” Davis said.

    A statement from the Memphis Police Association, the union representing the officers, declined to comment on the terminations beyond saying that the city of Memphis and Nichols’ family “deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

    Nichols family attorneys Crump and Antonio Romanucci called the firing of the five officers “the first step towards achieving justice for Tyre and his family.”

    Two Memphis Fire Department employees who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” were also fired, department Public Information Officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero.

    After meeting with officials to watch the unreleased police video of the arrest, Nichols’ family and their attorneys described their horror at what they saw.

    “He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

    “What I saw on the video today was horrific,” Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said Monday. “No father, mother should have to witness what I saw today.”

    Crump described the video as “appalling,” “deplorable” and “heinous.” He said RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, was unable to get through viewing the first minute of the footage after hearing Nichols ask, “What did I do?” At the end of the footage, Nichols can be heard calling for his mother three times, the attorney said.

    According to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family, Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” CNN has requested a copy of the autopsy, which Crump said will be available when the full report is ready.

    Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN on Tuesday his office was ensuring all necessary interviews with those involved had been conducted before the footage’s release.

    “A lot of the people’s questions about what exactly happened will, of course, be answered once people see the video,” Mulroy said, noting he believes the city will release enough footage to show the “entirety of the incident, from the very beginning to the very end.”

    Civil rights attorney Ben Crump speaks at a news conference with the family of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, as RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre, right, and Tyre's stepfather Rodney Wells, along with attorney Tony Romanucci, left, also stand with Crump, in Memphis, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    Tyre Nichols’ family speaks out after seeing police footage of police beating

    A grand jury indicted the five officers fired by Memphis police on several charges, according to the county’s district attorney.

    Martin III, Smith, Bean, Haley and Mills, Jr. were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, according to both Shelby County criminal court and Shelby County jail records.

    “While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible,” Mulroy said during a news conference.

    All five former officers reported to Shelby County Jail on Thursday, with four bonding out by early Friday morning, jail records showed.

    ben crump tyre nichols

    Crump: Nichols video will ‘remind you of Rodney King’

    Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled RowVaughn Wells’ first name.

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  • Five former Memphis police officers indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN

    Five former Memphis police officers indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping in Tyre Nichols’ death | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday.

    The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said.

    “While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible,” he said.

    Live updates on the Tyre Nichols case

    Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.

    The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.

    Four of the officers remained in custody Thursday evening, after being booked into the Shelby County Jail. Bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, and Smith, 28, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Mills, 32, posted $250,000 bond Thursday evening and was released, according to jail records.

    In a joint news conference Thursday afternoon, Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills, and William Massey, Martin’s attorney, said they have not yet watched the video of the police encounter, which is expected to be released to the public Friday.

    Ballin described Mills as a “respectful father,” who was “devastated” to be accused in the killing. Mills, previously a jailer in Mississippi and Tennessee, was in the process of posting bond Thursday to secure his release and plans to enter a not guilty plea in court, his attorney said. Ballin said he had not spoken to Mills specifically about Nichols.

    Martin also intended to post bond and will also plead not guilty, his attorney said. “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

    Other officers’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Police nationwide have been under heightened scrutiny for how they treat Black people, particularly since the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and the mass protest movement known as Black Lives Matter. Officials in Memphis have braced for potential civil unrest due to Nichols’ death and have called for peaceful protests.

    President Joe Biden said in a Thursday statement the killing is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all.”

    Video of the fatal police encounter, a mix of body-camera and pole-cam video, is expected to be released publicly after 6 p.m. Friday, Mulroy said.

    Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday night, Mulroy said that while he can’t definitively say what caused the encounter to escalate, the video shows that the officers were “already highly charged up” from the start of the video and “it just escalated further from there.”

    The video doesn’t capture the beginning of the altercation between the officers and Nichols but rather “cuts in as the first encounter is in progress,” Mulroy said.

    “What struck me (about the video) is how many different incidents of unwarranted force occurred sporadically by different individuals over a long period of time,” the district attorney added.

    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said the fatal encounter was not proper policing.

    “I’m sickened by what I saw and what we’ve learned from our extensive and thorough investigation,” he said. “I’ve seen the video, and as DA Mulroy stated, you will too. In a word, it’s absolutely appalling.”

    Nichols’ family and attorneys were shown the video on Monday and said it shows officers severely beating Nichols and compared it to the Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King in 1991.

    “The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre,” attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said Thursday.

    Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis took on the position in June 2021.

    The five Memphis police officers, who are also Black, were fired last week for violating policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said.

    In a YouTube video released late Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the officers’ actions and called for peaceful protests when the arrest video is released.

    “This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Davis said in the video, her first on-camera comments about the arrest. “This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

    “I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest to demand action and results. But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process,” said Davis, the first Black woman to serve as Memphis police chief. “None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”

    The five terminated officers all joined the department in the last six years, according to police. Other Memphis police officers are still under investigation for department policy violations related to the incident, the chief said.

    In a statement posted Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city had initiated an “outside, independent review” of the training, policies and operations of the police department’s specialized units. At least two of the officers belonged to one of those special units, according to their attorneys.

    Two members of the city’s fire department who were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care” also were relieved of duty, a fire spokesperson said. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

    Mulroy said the investigation is ongoing and there could be further charges going forward.

    Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies nationwide are bracing for protests and potential unrest following the release of video, multiple sources told CNN.

    The Memphis Police Department has terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. Top: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmit Martin. Bottom: Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith

    Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old, had worked with his stepfather at FedEx for about nine months, his family said. He was fond of skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park, Starbucks with friends and photographing sunsets, and he had his mother’s name tattooed on his arm, the family said. He also had the digestive issue known as Crohn’s disease and so was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his 6-foot-3-inch height, his mother said.

    On January 7, he was pulled over by Memphis officers on suspicion of reckless driving, police said in their initial statement on the incident. As officers approached the vehicle, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said. The officers pursued him and they had another “confrontation” before he was taken into custody, police said.

    Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.

    In Memphis police scanner audio, a person says there was “one male Black running” and called to “set up a perimeter.” Another message says “he’s fighting at this time.”

    On Thursday, Mulroy offered a few further details, saying the serious injuries occurred at the second confrontation. He also said Nichols was taken away in an ambulance after “some period of time of waiting around.”

    Attorneys for Nichols’ family who watched video of the arrest on Monday described it as a heinous police beating that lasted three long minutes. Crump said Nichols was tased, pepper-sprayed and restrained, and Romanucci said he was kicked.

    “He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

    Nichols had “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to the attorneys, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned.

    Among the charges, the officers were indicted on two counts of aggravated kidnapping: one for possession of a weapon and one for bodily injury.

    “At a certain point in the sequence of events, it is our view that this, if it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point, and it was an unlawful detention,” Mulroy said.

    Less than a month after the murder of Floyd, the Memphis Police Department amended its duty to intervene policy, according to a copy of the policy sent to CNN by the MPD.

    “Any member who directly observes another member engaged in dangerous or criminal conduct or abuse of a subject shall take reasonable action to intervene,” the policy, sent out on June 9, 2020, said.

    “A member shall immediately report to the Department any violation of policies and regulations or any other improper conduct which is contrary to the policy, order, or directives of the Department.”

    The policy went on to say “this reporting requirement also applies to allegations of uses of force not yet reported.”

    Correction: A previous version of this story gave the wrong spelling for the name of one of the arrested officers. According to the indictment, it is Tadarrius Bean.

    Previous versions of this story spelled Emmitt Martin’s name incorrectly.

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  • Tyre Nichols was a son and father who enjoyed skateboarding, photography and sunsets, his family says | CNN

    Tyre Nichols was a son and father who enjoyed skateboarding, photography and sunsets, his family says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Tyre Nichols was a father, a man who loved his mama and a free-spirited soul who was looking for a new life in Memphis, Tennessee.

    That life was tragically cut short earlier this month after a violent arrest by five officers with the Memphis Police.

    Now, as attention turns to the five former officers being charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death, according to court documents, Nichols’ family wants the world to know the man Nichols was.

    The 29-year-old was the baby of his family, the youngest of four children. He was a “good boy” who spent his Sundays doing laundry and getting ready for the week, his mother, Ravaughn Wells, said.

    “Does that sound like somebody that the police said did all these bad things?” Wells said. “Nobody’s perfect OK, but he was damn near.”

    “I know everybody says that they had a good son, and everybody’s son is good, but my son, he actually was a good boy,” she said.

    Above all else, Nichols loved being a father and loved his son, his family said.

    “Everything he was trying to do was to better himself as a father for his 4-year-old son,” attorney Benjamin Crump said at the family’s news conference.

    Nichols was someone who brought everyone joy. “When he comes through the door, he wants to give you a hug,” Crump said, speaking on behalf of Nichols’ family.

    Nichols moved to Memphis right before the Covid-19 pandemic and got stuck there when things shut down, his mother said. “But he was OK with it because he loved his mother,” she added.

    His mom said he loved her “to death” – so much so that he inked it permanently.

    “He had my name tattooed on his arm, and that made me proud because most kids don’t put their mom’s name, but he did,” Wells said with a laugh.

    “My son was a beautiful soul and he touched everyone,” she said.

    Nichols became friends with an unlikely group of people because they kept showing up to the same Starbucks around the same time in the morning, his friend Nate Spates Jr. said.

    A couple times a week, these five or six friends would sit together, put their phones away so they could be present and enjoy each other’s company, said Spates, who met Nichols about a year ago at a Starbucks in Germantown, Tennessee.

    The group didn’t talk much about their personal lives, and they never touched politics. But sports, particularly football, and Nichols’ favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, were regular topics.

    Nichols was a “free spirited person, a gentleman who marched to the beat of his own drum,” Spates told CNN. “He liked what he liked. If you liked what he liked – fine. If you didn’t – fine.”

    Spates said he saw himself in Nichols and recognized a young man who was trying to find his own way and learning to believe in himself.

    He saw Nichols grow and start to believe he could do whatever “he set out to do in this world,” Spates said.

    Spates’ favorite memory of Ty, as he called Nichols, was last year on Spates’ birthday, when Nichols met Spates’ wife and 3-year-old at their usual Starbucks. He watched Nichols play with his toddler and talk to his wife with kindness.

    “When we left, my wife said, ‘I just really like his soul. He’s got such a good spirit,’” Spates said.

    “To speak about someone’s soul is very deep,” he said. “I’ll never forget when she said that. I’ll always remember that about him.”

    Tyre Nichols loved his mother so much, he got a tattoo of her name.

    Spates joins the rest of Nichols’ family and wider Memphis community in being frustrated at the lack of information that has come out about the traffic stop that resulted in Nichols’ death. He said he’s had to do a lot of compartmentalizing to be able to even speak about his friend.

    “I just hope that this truly does open up honest dialogue, and not dialogue until the next one happens, but a dialogue for change,” he said.

    Nichols’ daily life was ordinary at times, as he worked and spent time with family, but he also made time for his passions, his mom, Wells, said.

    After his Starbucks sessions, he would come home and take a nap before heading to work, said Wells, with whom he was living. Nichols worked the second shift at FedEx, where he had been employed for about nine months, she said.

    He came home during his break to eat with his mom, who would have dinner cooked.

    Nichols loved his mom’s homemade chicken, made with sesame seeds, just the way he liked it, Wells said.

    When he wasn’t working, Nichols headed to Shelby Farms Park to skateboard, something he had been doing since he was 6 years old. He would wake up on Saturdays to go skate or sometimes, he’d go to the park to enjoy the sunset and snap photos of it, his mom said.

    “My son every night wanted to go and look at the sunset, that was his passion.”

    Photography was a form of self-expression that writing could never capture for Nichols, who wrote that it helped him look “at the world in a more creative way,” on his photography website.

    While he snapped everything from action shots of sports to bodies of water, landscape photography was his favorite, he wrote.

    “I hope to one day let people see what i see and to hopefully admire my work based on the quality and ideals of my work,” he wrote. He signed the post: “Your friend, – Tyre D. Nichols.”

    Tyre Nichols does tricks on his board in a YouTube video, which was shown at a news conference by his family's attorney Crump.

    Skating was another way Nichols showed the world his personality. A video montage of Nichols on YouTube shows his face up close with the sun shining behind him before he coasts up and down a ramp on his skateboard. He grinds the rail and does tricks on his board in the video, which was shown at a news conference by his family’s attorney Crump.

    Sunsets, skateboarding and his positive nature were all things that Nichols was known for, longtime friend Angelina Paxton told The Commercial Appeal, a local paper.

    Skating was a big part of his life in Sacramento, California, where he lived before he moved to Memphis, Paxton said.

    “He was his own person and didn’t care if he didn’t fit into what a traditional Black man was supposed to be in California. He had such a free spirit and skating gave him his wings,” Paxton said.

    Paxton and Nichols met when they were 11 years old and attending a youth group, she told the Appeal.

    “Tyre was someone who knew everyone, and everyone had a positive image of him because that’s who he was,” Paxton said. “Every church knew him; every youth group knew him.”

    When Paxton found out about Nichols’ death, she crumbled, she told CNN affiliate WMC.

    “My knees gave out,” she told WMC. “I just fell because I could not believe that someone with such light was taken out in such a dark way.”

    Paxton attended Nichols’ memorial service earlier this month in Memphis. She said she represented the people in California who knew him and wanted to support his family.

    “There would be a couple thousand people in this room,” Paxton told WMC, if the memorial had been in Sacramento. “He was such an innocent person. He was such a light. This could have been any of us.”

    For his family, seeing the turnout and feeling the outpouring of support meant a lot.

    Nichols’ stepfather Rodney Wells told WMC: “My son is a community person, so this (memorial) was good to see.”

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  • Tyre Nichols died from ‘extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating’ according to preliminary results of an independent autopsy, lawyer says | CNN

    Tyre Nichols died from ‘extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating’ according to preliminary results of an independent autopsy, lawyer says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to preliminary results of an independent autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.

    Attorney Ben Crump said in a statement that “preliminary findings indicate Tyre suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating, and that his observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on the video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7, 2023.”

    Nichols died three days after he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving by Memphis Police Department officers, as CNN previously reported. In a statement, police claimed confrontations ensued between Nichols and officers. After he was taken into custody, police said, Nichols complained he was having shortness of breath and was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

    After viewing body-worn camera footage of the incident on Monday, family attorney Antonio Romanucci said Nichols was “defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, non-stop beating of this young boy for three minutes.”

    Five police officers, all of whom are Black, and two members of the city’s fire department were fired in the wake of Nichols’ death.

    Video of the incident could be released this week or next week, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN’s Laura Coates Tuesday night, but he wants to make sure his office has interviewed everyone involved before releasing the video so it doesn’t have an impact on their statements.

    “A lot of the people’s questions about what exactly happened will, of course, be answered once people see the video,” Mulroy said, noting he believes the city will release enough footage to show the “entirety of the incident, from the very beginning to the very end.”

    Prosecutors are trying to expedite the investigation and may be able to make a determination on possible charges “around the same time frame in which we contemplate release of the video,” Mulroy said.

    Officials have not released Nichols’ autopsy. CNN has asked Crump for a copy of the independent autopsy, but he said the full report is not yet ready.

    The January 10 death of Nichols, 29, follows a number of recent, high-profile cases involving police using excessive force toward members of the public, particularly young Black men.

    “It is appalling. It is deplorable. It is heinous,” Crump said Monday after viewing the body-worn camera video with Nichols’ family. “It is violent. It is troublesome on every level.”

    “What I saw on the video today was horrific,” said Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather. “No father, mother should have to witness what I saw today.”

    Ravaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, was unable to get through viewing the first minute of the footage, Crump said, after hearing Tyre ask, “What did I do?” At the end of the footage, Nichols can be heard calling for his mother three times, the attorney said.

    Crump, who was joined by Nichols’ mother, stepfather, grandmother and aunt at a news conference, said the family described Nichols as “a good kid” who enjoyed skateboarding, photography and computers.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

    The Memphis Police Department initially said there was a confrontation after Nichols was pulled over and he “fled the scene on foot.” Officers chased him and there was another confrontation before Nichols was taken into custody, the police said in a statement on social media.

    “Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.

    Nichols fled from the police, his stepfather said, because he was afraid.

    Family members and supporters hold a photograph of Tyre Nichols at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee, Monday.

    “Our son ran because he was scared for his life,” Wells said Monday. “He did not run because he was trying to get rid of no drugs, no guns, no any of that. He ran because he was scared for his life. And when you see the video, you will see why he was scared for his life.”

    The fire department employees who were fired were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care,” and were relieved of duty “while an internal investigation is being conducted,” department Public Information Officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero. Ward did not give more details, saying she could not comment further because of the ongoing investigation.

    Asked Tuesday what those fire department employees did or didn’t do, Romanucci told CNN there were “limitations” on how much he could say.

    He added, “During a period of time before the EMS services arrived on scene, fire is on scene. And they are there with Tyre and the police officers prior to EMS arriving.”

    Pictured are top, from left, former officers Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills and, bottom, from left, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean.

    The Memphis Police Department last week identified the officers terminated as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith.

    “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day,” Chief Cerelyn Davis said at the time.

    The Memphis Police Association, the union representing the officers, declined to comment on the terminations beyond saying that the city of Memphis and Nichols’ family “deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

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  • Tyre Nichols’ family has watched video of his arrest by Memphis police just days before his death, city officials say | CNN

    Tyre Nichols’ family has watched video of his arrest by Memphis police just days before his death, city officials say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Tyre Nichols’ family on Monday met with Memphis, Tennessee, officials and viewed footage of his arrest earlier this month, giving them an opportunity to see what happened before he was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he died days later.

    Memphis Police confirmed in a statement on Twitter that police and city officials met with Nichols’ family to let them view the video recordings, which Chief Cerelyn Davis indicated would be released publicly at a later time.

    “Transparency remains a priority in this incident, and a premature release could adversely impact the criminal investigation and the judicial process,” she said. “We are working with the District Attorney’s Office to determine the appropriate time to release video recordings publicly.”

    Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing Nichols’ family, said in a statement the family would hold a news conference Monday afternoon.

    The death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, follows a number of recent, high-profile cases involving police using excessive force toward members of the public, particularly young Black men.

    The Memphis Police Department has terminated five police officers, all of whom are Black, in connection with Nichols’ death January 10, three days after the department says officers pulled over a motorist, identified as Nichols, for alleged reckless driving the previous day.

    A confrontation followed, and “the suspect fled the scene on foot,” police said in a statement on social media. Officers chased him and another confrontation took place before the suspect was taken into custody, the statement said.

    “Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.

    Nichols died a few days later, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating. The Department of Justice and the FBI have also opened a civil rights investigation.

    Details about Nichols’ injuries and the cause of his death have not been released. CNN has reached out to the Shelby County coroner for comment.

    The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office expects to release the video of Nichols’ arrest either this week or next week, a spokesperson told CNN on Monday, about a week after city officials said video recorded by officers’ body-worn cameras would be released publicly after the police department’s internal investigation was completed and the family had a chance to review the recordings.

    “(The video) should be made public, it’s just a matter of when,” Director of Communications Erica Williams said, adding the Nichols family was expected to meet with the DA around 12 p.m. ET Monday.

    Williams declined to characterize the nature of the video, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on it before the family sees it.

    Asked if officials anticipated charges against the five officers involved in Nichols’ arrest, Williams said, “charges, if any, will be announced later this week.”

    The Memphis Police Department’s administrative investigation found the five officers terminated – identified by the department as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith – violated policies for use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said in a statement.

    “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day,” Police Chief Cerleyn “CJ” Davis said.

    The Memphis Police Association, the union representing the officers, declined to comment on the terminations beyond saying that the city of Memphis and Nichols’ family “deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

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  • 5 Memphis officers fired after death of man who was hospitalized after his arrest | CNN

    5 Memphis officers fired after death of man who was hospitalized after his arrest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Memphis Police Department has terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, who passed away in a hospital after being arrested by police earlier this month, according to a post from the department’s verified Twitter account.

    “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers perform, with integrity every day,” Police chief Cerleyn “CJ” Davis said in a statement.

    Investigators working on an internal review of the arrest found the officers violated policies for use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether the officers’ actions were criminal in nature. The Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

    “Due to the ongoing criminal investigation, the Memphis Police Association will not comment on the termination of officers in the Tyre Nichols case,” the union representing the officers said. “The citizens of Memphis, and more importantly, the family of Mr. Nichols deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

    On January 8, the police department announced officers pulled over a motorist for reckless driving the previous day. “As officers approached the driver of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” officials said in a statement posted on social media.

    Officers pursued the suspect and again attempted to take him into custody when another confrontation occurred before the suspect was apprehended, according to police.

    “Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.

    The man, identified as Nichols, died a few days later, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

    Details about the injuries Nichols suffered or his cause of death have not been released. CNN has reached out to the Shelby County coroner.

    On Tuesday, city officials said the video record by the officers’ body-worn cameras will be released publicly after the police department’s internal investigation ends and after the family is given a chance to review the recordings. Attorney Ben Crump on Friday indicated the family would see the footage Monday and said he and the family would hold a news conference that afternoon.

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  • DOJ and FBI open civil rights investigation into the death of Memphis man who passed away after arrest | CNN

    DOJ and FBI open civil rights investigation into the death of Memphis man who passed away after arrest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The FBI and Department of Justice have opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols, who passed away in a hospital after being arrested by Memphis police, according to a statement from US Attorney Kevin Ritz on Wednesday.

    “Last week, Tyre Nichols tragically died, a few days after he was involved in an incident where Memphis Police Department officers used force during his arrest,” Ritz said in a Department of Justice news release.

    Immediately following the incident, the officers involved were relieved of duty, pending the outcome of the investigations, the police department has said. Police did not release how many officers were involved in the incident.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether officers broke any law while Memphis Police are investigating whether department policies were violated. The police department’s administrative investigation should be finished later this week, city officials have said.

    “In addition, the United States Attorney’s Office, in coordination with the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, has opened a civil rights investigation,” Ritz said.

    He said he could offer no more comments about the case as the investigation remains open.

    CNN has reached out to the FBI Memphis Field Office for comment.

    On January 8, the police department announced officers pulled over a motorist for reckless driving the previous day. “As officers approached the driver of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” officials said in a statement posted on social media.

    Officers pursued the suspect and again attempted to take him into custody when another confrontation occurred before the suspect was apprehended, according to police.

    “Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.

    The man, identified as Nichols, died a few days later, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

    The death led to protests and for the family to call for the release of video recorded by cameras worn by the officers.

    “This kind of in-custody death destroys community trust if agencies are not swiftly transparent. The most effective way for the Memphis Police Department to be transparent with the grieving Nichols family and the Memphis community is to release the body camera and surveillance footage from the traffic stop,” attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, said Monday in a statement.

    On Tuesday, city officials said the video will be released publicly after the police department’s internal investigation ends and after the family is given a chance to review the recording.

    Details about the injuries Nichols suffered or his cause of death have not been released. CNN has reached out to the Shelby County coroner.

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  • Shocking New Photo Shows Serious Injuries On Memphis Man Who Died In Police Custody

    Shocking New Photo Shows Serious Injuries On Memphis Man Who Died In Police Custody

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    The family of a young Black man who died in the custody of Memphis, Tennessee, police is outraged and looking for answers — starting with the release of body camera footage that may help explain what happened to 29-year-old Tyre Nichols during a routine traffic stop this month.

    Nichols’ family and local activists planned a series of protests over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in Memphis, the same city where the civil rights leader was slain over 50 years ago. They demanded the release of the full bodycam footage — and revealed a shocking photograph of Nichols in a hospital bed following his arrest but before his death. In the picture, he appears to have suffered serious injuries, with the family describing him as “unrecognizable.”

    Nichols, a FedEx worker who enjoyed skateboarding and photography, died three days after a Jan. 7 traffic stop for reckless driving.

    It’s not entirely clear what ensued before Nichols ended up in an ambulance. Officers said that he ran from the stop but gave vague information about what occurred while they gave chase.

    “A confrontation occurred, and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” police said in a Jan. 8 statement, adding that “another confrontation occurred” before Nichols was arrested.

    His family said Nichols was pepper-sprayed, tased and beaten by several officers during the stop.

    Nichols complained that he was experiencing “shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene,” police said. He was taken to a hospital and died on Jan. 10. Officials have not disclosed a cause of death, but Nichols’ family said he suffered from cardiac arrest and kidney failure.

    HuffPost made several attempts to reach Memphis police but did not receive a response.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now looking into what happened, while the officers involved have been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the probe.

    Nichols’ death is just the latest in a string of high-profile incidents that have roiled the city. In 2018, police fatally shot Martavious Banks during a traffic stop, with an officer’s body-worn camera not operating. Three years earlier, police also fatally shot Darrius Stewart, who was unarmed and fleeing an officer after a stop.

    Not one of the officers involved in the deaths of Banks or Stewart was charged in Memphis, even though police found Jamarcus Jeames, an ex-officer, in violation of department policy and a former Memphis district attorney recommended that ex-officer Connor Schilling be indicted by a grand jury.

    Since Nichols’ arrest and death, his family has held four demonstrations and a memorial service in his honor. Activists have also confronted public officials, including the city’s mayor.

    On Saturday, Hunter Demster, an activist and organizer in Memphis, obtained the image of Nichols in a hospital bed. In the photo, which is reprinted in this story, his face appeared to be disfigured, with bruises and swollen eyes.

    Family members of Nichols gather for a demonstration outside of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis following his death in police custody.

    The family protested with the graphic photo outside the Memphis Police Department, demanding justice and accountability.

    While Mayor Jim Strickland was holding Memphis’ annual Luminary Awards on Monday, protesters disrupted the event to demand immediate answers and transparency around Nichols’ death.

    Amber Sherman, an organizer with a Black Lives Matter chapter in Memphis, approached Strickland and asked when the city was going to release more information about the fatal incident.

    “Mayor Strickland, do you have anything to say? Do you have anything to say about Tyre Nichols being murdered by MPD?” Sherman asked.

    “It is a very sad situation,” Strickland responded.

    Sherman then asked if the mayor would join activists in calling for the release of the footage. Strickland told Sherman that his office is “working on that right now,” but when she questioned how long it would take, Strickland replied, “I don’t know.”

    Sherman argued that the release of the footage should be a priority because “police keep murdering people here.”

    “No, they don’t keep murdering people here,” Strickland replied, again calling Nichols’ case a “sad situation.” (Since the beginning of December, four other people have been shot by Memphis police, with three of them dying. Nichols was the first person to die in police custody this year.)

    Nichols’ family said an officer initially told them not to travel to the hospital where he was being treated, according to Sherman, who is also the president of the Shelby County Young Democrats.

    “We are not just going to stop. Where is the footage? They are not releasing anything,” Sherman said. “He was very afraid and running because they were regular-looking people. Just as Black people here, someone pulling me over in an unmarked vehicle — I would be scared too.”

    On Tuesday, Allison Fouche, a spokesperson for Strickland’s office, told HuffPost that the city plans to release bodycam footage from the incident next week, after an internal investigation is completed and officials give the family an opportunity to see the video first.

    Strickland’s office and the city’s police chief, Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, followed up with a statement Tuesday afternoon after the disruption of the Luminary Awards event.

    Nichols is shown in a hospital bed shortly before his death.
    Nichols is shown in a hospital bed shortly before his death.

    “We understand and agree that transparency around the events surrounding the death of Mr. Tyre Nichols is critically important, especially the release of the video footage,” the statement said. It added that city officials plan to meet with Ben Crump, who is representing Nichols’ family.

    Shelby County’s newly elected district attorney, Steve Mulroy, also released a statement Tuesday, saying that his office is “committed to transparency” and understands the “reasonable request from the public to view the footage.”

    “We’re working with the appropriate agencies to determine how quickly we can release the video, and will do so as soon as we can,” the statement said.

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  • Memphis Police relieve officers pending investigations into the arrest of man who later died, chief says | CNN

    Memphis Police relieve officers pending investigations into the arrest of man who later died, chief says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have launched investigations into the action of officers involved in a traffic stop arrest of a man who later died and plan to take “immediate and appropriate action” against them, according to a release from the city.

    On January 8, the police department announced officers pulled over a motorist for reckless driving the previous day. “As officers approached the driver of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” officials said in a statement posted on social media.

    Officers pursued the suspect and again attempted to take him into custody when another confrontation occurred before the suspect was apprehended, according to police.

    “Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” officials said.

    The man, identified as Tyre Nichols, died a few days later, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

    The city’s release said the bureau is looking into the officers’ use of force and the police department is investigating whether agency policy was violated. The police department’s administrative investigation should be finished later this week, according to the news release.

    Immediately following the incident, the officers involved were relieved of duty, pending the outcome of the investigations. Police did not release how many officers were involved in the incident.

    “After reviewing various sources of information involving this incident, I have found that it is necessary to take immediate and appropriate action,” Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said in a statement released Sunday. “Today, the department is serving notice to the officers involved of the impending administrative actions.”

    During community protests in Memphis on Saturday, Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, while standing next to a photo of Nichols in the hospital, told CNN affiliate WMC, “You shouldn’t be on a dialysis machine looking like this because of a traffic stop.”

    Details about the injuries Nichols suffered or his cause of death have not been released.

    Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, is calling for the police department to release the body-worn camera footage of the incident.

    “This kind of in-custody death destroys community trust if agencies are not swiftly transparent. The most effective way for the Memphis Police Department to be transparent with the grieving Nichols family and the Memphis community is to release the body camera and surveillance footage from the traffic stop,” Crump said in a statement.

    Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said, “Make no doubt, we take departmental violation very seriously and, while we must complete the investigation process, it is our top priority to ensure that swift justice is served,” according to the city’s news release.

    “We want citizens to know that we are prepared to take immediate and appropriate actions based on what the findings determine,” he added.

    Neither Davis nor Strickland elaborated on what action will be taken against the officers.

    According to the city’s news release, “there is a required procedural process before government civil service employees can be disciplined or terminated from employment.”

    CNN has reached out to police, the Shelby County District Attorney, the Shelby County Coroner and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for more on the investigation.

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  • Lisa Marie Presley will be buried at Graceland next to son

    Lisa Marie Presley will be buried at Graceland next to son

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Lisa Marie Presley will be buried at Graceland, the famed home of Elvis Presley that on Friday became a gathering place for fans distraught over her death a day earlier.

    The singer-songwriter’s final resting place will be next to her son, Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020, said a representative of her daughter and actor Riley Keough. Elvis and other members of the Presley family are also buried at Graceland.

    Fans paid their respects at Graceland’s gates on Friday, writing messages on the stone wall, leaving flowers and sharing memories of Elvis Presley’s only child, who was one of the last remaining touchstones to the icon whose influence and significance still resonates more than 45 years after his own sudden death.

    Lisa Marie Presley, 54, died Thursday, hours after being hospitalized for a medical emergency.

    A singer-songwriter herself, Lisa Marie did not live in Memphis, where she was born. But she made trips to the city for celebrations of her father’s birth anniversary and commemorations of his death, which stunned the world when he was found dead in his Graceland home at age 42 on Aug. 16, 1977. She was in Memphis just this past Sunday, on what would have been her father’s 88th birthday.

    Angela Ferraro was among those on Thursday night who stopped by Graceland, where the trees in the front lawn were adorned by green and red lights. Fans took photos and left flowers at the front gate on the chilly and windy evening.

    Ferraro and her fiance drove 25 minutes from Olive Branch, Mississippi, to pay their respects. Ferraro said she was a fan of Elvis’ music and of Lisa Marie’s — the couple listened to Lisa Marie’s song “Lights Out” on the drive north to Graceland.

    “Elvis died young, and so did she. And her son, his passing was very tragic as well,” said Ferraro, 32. “It’s hard and it’s devastating.”

    Lisa Marie became the sole heir of the Elvis Presley Trust, which — along with Elvis Presley Enterprises — managed Graceland and other assets until she sold her majority interest in 2005. She retained ownership of the mansion itself, the 13 acres around it and items inside the home.

    A representative from Elvis Presley Enterprises told The Associated Press that the mansion is in a trust that will go to the benefit of her children — she’s survived by three daughters. The representative did not have details on the timing of a funeral or burial.

    Lisa Marie was 9 when her father died. She was staying at Graceland at the time and would recall him kissing her goodnight hours before he died. When she next saw him, the following day, he was lying face down in the bathroom.

    “I just had a feeling,” she told Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wasn’t doing well. All I know is I had it (a feeling), and it happened. I was obsessed with death at a very early age.”

    Lisa Marie visited Graceland in 2012 to attend the opening of a new exhibit, “Elvis Through His Daughter’s Eyes,” a personal look that included her baby shoes — her birth, nine months exactly after Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s wedding, was international news — as well as her first record player and a small white fur coat.

    During an interview with the AP during that stop, she smiled when recalling the time spent with her dad. She said one of her favorite items was the key used to operate a golf cart because it helped her recall when she was alone with her father, riding around the neighborhood.

    “That was my life,” she said. “I carried it everywhere. It was never far from me or not on my person when I was a child. I hadn’t seen it in 35 years.”

    On Thursday, Sancelle Vance, 50, had taken the Graceland tour, which included a stop by Lisa Marie’s old swing set and the grave of her son.

    About an hour and a half later, Vance heard about Lisa Marie’s death; the mood at The Guest House at Graceland, the hotel where she is staying, became somber. Vance, who decided to stop in Memphis while moving from Mississippi to California, said it was “surreal” that she was at Graceland on the day Lisa Marie died.

    Kristen Sainato and her husband were visiting Memphis from Cleveland when she heard the news of Lisa Marie’s death on Thursday. She wore a black jacket with the well-known TCB lightning bolt (shorthand for taking care of business in a flash, a motto Elvis lived by) on the back as she described meeting Lisa Marie at a celebration of her father’s birthday. Sainato set down a bouquet of flowers at the front gate of Graceland, where one of two planes is named for Lisa Marie.

    “Those are for Lisa,” she said.

    She said Lisa Marie Presley was one of the last connections to her famous father.

    “Everyone is shocked over this. Why? Why did this have to happen?” Sainato said, wiping tears from her eyes as she stood in front of the stone wall that borders the home-turned museum. “She deserved a long, happy life.”

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  • Gangsta Boo, a former member of Three 6 Mafia, dies at 43

    Gangsta Boo, a former member of Three 6 Mafia, dies at 43

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    LOS ANGELES — Gangsta Boo, a Southern rapper who was a former member of the hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, has died. She was 43.

    Lola “Gangsta Boo” Mitchell was found dead Sunday in Memphis, Tennessee, her hometown. The cause of death has not been released.

    “The Mitchell family would like to thank everyone for their condolences regarding the untimely death of Lola ‘Gangsta Boo’ Mitchell,” said the rapper’s mother Veronica Mitchell and family in a statement issued Monday. “The family is asking for your continued prayers and privacy as we process the loss of our loved one.”

    The rapper launched her career at age of 14 when she was noticed by DJ Paul, a founding member of Three 6 Mafia. By 15, she joined the rap collective, which included notable members DJ Paul, Juicy J, Crunchy Black and Lord Infamous.

    Gangsta Boo gained instant notoriety with her shoot-from-the-hip, rapid-fire rap flow on Three 6 Mafia’s 1995 debut album “Mystic Stylez,” which became a cult classic. She appeared on five more of the group’s albums, including “Chapter 2: World Domination” and the platinum-selling “When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1.”

    In 1998, she branched out with her debut solo album “Enquiring Minds.” The album was highlighted by “Where Dem Dollas At,” featuring Juicy J and DJ Paul.

    After Three 6 Mafia released “Choices: The Album” in 2001, she left the group to focus on her solo career. She dropped her sophomore album, “Both Worlds (asterisk)69,” which reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her third album, “Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera,” was released in 2003.

    During her career, Gangsta Boo collaborated with popular artists including OutKast, Eminem, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, E-40 and T.I. This year, she appeared on Latto’s “FTCU” that also included GloRilla.

    Last month, Gangsta Boo said she was on the verge of releasing her fourth studio album “The BooPrint,” this year. Last week, she filmed an unreleased video, “Imma Mack,” with producer Drumma Boy.

    “Gangsta Boo was like a sister to me and told the world about me the way my blood brother did,” Drumma Boy said in a statement. “We both are Leos and share the same energy towards unity and seeing people happy! This is just such a devastating loss cuz she always wanted to see others win! RIP to the Queen Of Memphis, forever my sister.”

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  • Memphis shooting leaves five people in critical condition | CNN

    Memphis shooting leaves five people in critical condition | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Five people were in critical condition after a “domestic situation” in Memphis Friday night ended in a shooting, police say.

    Officers responding to a report of a shooting in a north Memphis neighborhood shortly before 8 p.m. discovered two men and three women had been shot, according to the Memphis Police Department.

    The shooting victims were in critical condition at Regional Medical Center, police said.

    The unidentified suspect is known by the victims, and the shooting was the result of a domestic situation, police spokeswoman Theresa Carlson said via email.

    The suspect got away in a white Infiniti, police said.

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  • Tennessee eyes $2M in contracts to test 1000 rape kits

    Tennessee eyes $2M in contracts to test 1000 rape kits

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s lead investigative agency is seeking $2 million in contracts with outside labs to process 1,000 rape kits it says need to be tested before the end of June.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued the request for proposals for up to three contractors, as the state’s turnaround times for sexual assault kits continue to face scrutiny after the high-profile killing of teacher Eliza Fletcher in September. The contractors would also need to testify about the tested rape kits as needed in court cases.

    As of October, the agency said the average turnaround time for a rape kit was 43 weeks at the Knoxville lab, 42.4 weeks at the Jackson lab and 32.7 weeks at the Nashville lab. The bureau wants the contractors signed on by the end of January.

    The agency has attributed the delays to staffing woes and low pay agency-wide that complicates recruiting and keeping scientists, in addition to other professionals. The issues are likely to drive plenty of conversation during the legislative session that begins next month.

    Republican Gov. Bill Lee announced in late September that he and lawmakers were fast-tracking funding to hire an 25 additional forensic lab positions. The agency had requested 40 more special agent/forensic scientist positions and 10 more technicians in the budget that is now in effect, but Lee and lawmakers initially funded half that amount.

    Eighteen new special agent/forensic scientists have started since September, while 22 are in the hiring, background or relocation process, agency spokesperson Keli McAlister said.

    There are several different roles for forensic scientists at the agency other than DNA, ranging from toxicology to forensic chemistry. In the first wave of positions approved for the current budget, for example, the 20 new special agent/forensic scientist positions funded included eight forensic biology/DNA positions.

    Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch has said the agency has several other approaches in the works, as he aims to reduce turnaround times to eight to 12 weeks within a year for all evidence. Some efforts include: offering overtime for lab workers; operating the labs on weekends; and contracting with retired TBI workers to help provide training so current scientists can shift their time training employees to more case work.

    The problems with Tennessee’s rape kit testing were laid bare after Fletcher’s killing.

    Authorities confirmed that the man charged with abducting and killing Fletcher had not been charged in the 2021 case of the rape of a woman due to the delay in processing the sexual assault kit.

    Cleotha Henderson was eventually indicted in the case just days after he was arrested in the death of Fletcher, a mother of two and a kindergarten teacher.

    In the earlier case, Memphis police say they took a sexual assault report on Sept. 21, 2021 but it wasn’t analyzed in a state lab until nearly a year later. When the 2021 DNA was entered into the national database, it returned a match for Henderson on Sept. 5. Fletcher disappeared on Sept. 2.

    TBI said police in Memphis had made no request for expedited analysis of the kit, which can cut the wait to only days, and no suspect information was included in the submission.

    Henderson made a brief appearance before a judge in Shelby County Criminal Court on the rape charge Friday. His defense attorney said she is receiving evidence from prosecutors and a judge set a report date for Feb. 3. Henderson has pleaded not guilty.

    ———

    Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee contributed to this report.

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  • Memphis police officer injured, suspect killed in shooting

    Memphis police officer injured, suspect killed in shooting

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis police officer was shot and a suspect was killed Monday evening, according to the Memphis Police Department.

    The department said in a tweet that the officer was struck multiple times at 9:15 p.m. in the neighborhood of Oakhaven, just north of the Tennessee-Mississippi border. The officer was transported to a hospital in critical condition. The suspect, who fired multiple shots at the officer, was pronounced dead at the scene, the tweet said.

    Police did not identify the officer or the suspect and gave no details about what led up to the shooting.

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is expected to investigate the shooting.

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  • Man gets trapped in grain bin, ‘awake and talking’ after rescue

    Man gets trapped in grain bin, ‘awake and talking’ after rescue

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    Man trapped in grain bin rescued

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  • Man charged with arranging rapper Young Dolph’s killing

    Man charged with arranging rapper Young Dolph’s killing

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A man charged with arranging the killing of Young Dolph pleaded not guilty Thursday — one year after the rapper and record label owner was ambushed and shot to death while buying cookies at a bakery in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

    Hernandez Govan, 43, made a brief appearance in Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis. He was arrested last week after he was indicted on charges including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the killing of the rapper, who was 36 when he died. The judge scheduled Govan’s next hearing for Dec. 16.

    Govan is the third man charged in the Nov. 17, 2021, slaying of Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. The killing in broad daylight stunned Memphis and shocked the entertainment world. Police said two men exited a white Mercedes-Benz and fired shots into Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, which is near the rapper’s boyhood home in the Castalia neighborhood. Police released photos taken from surveillance video that captured the shooting, and authorities later found the car abandoned.

    Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith Jr., have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the shooting and are being held in jail without bond. They are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 20.

    In a weekly newsletter, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Govan “solicited the murder and put it in motion.” But no evidence has been made public to support that statement, and a suspected motive has not been disclosed. The investigation is ongoing.

    “I know that you all are wanting details, you’re wanting facts, you’re wanting sort of answers to some of these mysteries and things like that,” prosecutor Paul Hagerman told reporters after Thursday’s hearing. “Even if we knew them, we couldn’t tell you. As a matter of ethics and our requirements under the law, we’ve got to confine ourselves to what’s made public.”

    Govan’s lawyer, Bill Massey, said he was seeking the prosecution’s evidence in the case, which Massey said may not go to trial until after next year due to the amount of evidence and the number of defendants.

    Known for his depictions of tough street life and his independent approach to the music business, Young Dolph was admired for charitable works in Memphis. He organized Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, donated thousands of dollars to high schools, and paid rent and covered funeral costs for people in the Castalia Heights neighborhood where he was raised.

    His work as a rapper, producer and owner of the independent label “Paper Route Empire” took him away from Memphis, but the father of two had returned to the city days before his killing to visit a sick relative and organize a turkey giveaway that took place without him.

    After Young Dolph’s death, a section of a street near his boyhood home was renamed for him. A private funeral was held and he was honored during a public celebration at FedExForum, the home of the Memphis Grizzles of the NBA and the University of Memphis men’s basketball team.

    City officials and community activists also pointed to the killing as a symbol of the scourge of gun violence in Memphis. Since the rapper’s death, Memphis has seen several other high-profile killings this year, including the shooting of a United Methodist Church pastor during a carjacking in her driveway; the kidnapping and shooting of an elementary school teacher who police said was abducted during an early morning run; and a man’s daylong shooting rampage that was partially livestreamed and led to the death of three people.

    Young Dolph is one of several prominent hip-hop artists to be killed in recent years. His independent approach to the music business drew comparisons to Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was fatally shot in 2019. Other rappers who have lost their lives to gun violence since 2018 include XXXTentacion, Pop Smoke and, most recently, Takeoff, who was killed outside of a bowling alley after a party in Houston on Nov. 1.

    In an article in The Atlantic dated Tuesday, rappers Too Short and E-40 called for the hip-hop community to find ways to come together and support each other amid the spate of gun deaths in the industry.

    Young Dolph was born in Chicago and moved to Memphis with his parents when he was 2. He released numerous mixtapes, starting with 2008′s “Paper Route Campaign,” and multiple studio albums, including his 2016 debut “King of Memphis.” He also collaborated on other mixtapes and albums with fellow rappers Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and others.

    He had three albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with 2020′s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.

    Makeda’s, the bakery where he was shot, was boarded up and closed before it reopened in September.

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  • Family, fans bid adieu to music icon Jerry Lee Lewis

    Family, fans bid adieu to music icon Jerry Lee Lewis

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    FERRIDAY, La. (AP) — Family, friends and fans gathered Saturday to bid farewell to rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis at memorial services held in his north Louisiana home town.

    Lewis, known for hits such as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” died Oct. 28 at his Mississippi home, south of Memphis, Tennessee. He was 87.

    TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, Lewis’ cousin, told the more than 100 people inside Young’s Funeral Home in Ferriday, the town where Lewis was born, that when Lewis died he “lost the brother I never had.”

    “We learned to play piano together,” Swaggart recalled. “I had to make myself realize that he was no longer here.”

    Swaggart and Lewis released “The Boys From Ferriday,” a gospel album, earlier this year and Swaggart said he wasn’t sure if Lewis was going to be able to get through the recording session.

    “He was very weak,” Swaggart said. “I remember saying, ‘Lord, I don’t know if he can do it or not.’ But when Jerry Lee sat at that piano, you know he was limited to what he could play because of the stroke, but when the engineer said the red light is on and when he opened his mouth, he said, ‘Jesus, hold my hand, I need thee every hour. Hear my feeble plea, oh Lord, look down on me.’”

    The session resulted in the album, and two of its songs played during the service: “In the Garden” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” Audience members were seen wiping tears from their eyes and singing along with Lewis as the recordings played.

    “He was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived,” Swaggart said.

    Lewis, who called himself “The Killer,” was the last survivor of a generation of artists that rewrote music history, a group that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

    Lewis’ body was at the front of the funeral home’s main parlor, inside a closed, red casket with a spray of red roses on top. Several funeral wreaths, including one in the form of a musical note, dotted the walls behind and around the casket as did photos of the singer, one of which showed him in a red suit hunched over and singing into a microphone.

    Swaggart’s son, Donnie Swaggart, recalled a meeting in Memphis between Lewis and members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a country rock band, that highlighted Lewis’ humorous side.

    He said his father and Lewis were walking toward an arena’s exit as the band members were coming in. “As they neared Lewis, one asked, ‘Is that who I think it is? Is that Jerry Lee Lewis?’ As Jerry Lee passed, one of the men asked, ‘Are you Jerry Lee Lewis?’ Jerry Lee stopped and looked each of them up and down and said, ‘Boys, Killer’s my name and music’s my thing.’ And then he walked out.”

    Donnie Swaggart said the guys stood there, with their jaws dropped in amazement. “What a sense of humor he had,” he said as the audience laughed.

    After his personal life blew up in the late 1950s following news of his marriage to his cousin, 13-year-old — possibly even 12-year-old — Myra Gale Brown, while still married to his previous wife, the piano player and rock rebel was blacklisted from radio and his earnings dropped to virtually nothing. Over the following decades, Lewis struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, legal disputes and physical illness.

    “He always had a heart for God, even at his lowest times,” Jimmy Swaggart said. “I will miss him very much but we know where he is now and thank God for that.”

    Xavier Ellis, 28, a Ferriday native now teaching in Opelousas, Louisiana, said Lewis’ life is an inspiration.

    “He was a poor kid from Ferriday who made it to the heights he made it to. I’m very impressed with his life story. I’m saddened by him leaving, but his legacy will live on,” Ellis said.

    In the 1960s, Lewis reinvented himself as a country performer and the music industry eventually forgave him. He had a run of top 10 country hits from 1967 to 1970, including “She Still Comes Around” and “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me).”

    In 1986, along with Elvis, Berry and others, Lewis was in the inaugural class of inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and joined the Country Hall of Fame this year. His life and music were reintroduced to younger fans in the 1989 biopic “Great Balls of Fire,” starring Dennis Quaid, and Ethan Coen’s 2022 documentary “Trouble in Mind.”

    A 2010 Broadway musical, “Million Dollar Quartet,” was inspired by a recording session that featured Lewis, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

    Lewis won a Grammy in 1987 as part of an interview album that was cited for best spoken word recording, and he received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.

    The following year, “Whole Lotta Shakin’” was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, whose board praised the “propulsive boogie piano that was perfectly complemented by the drive of J.M. Van Eaton’s energetic drumming. The listeners to the recording, like Lewis himself, had a hard time remaining seated during the performance.”

    Tom Tomschin and his wife, Sandra, of Cicero, Illinois, traveled to Ferriday to give homage to Lewis for all he’s done for the music industry.

    “We felt the need to pay our respect to the pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll who had a major part in the creation of and shaping of the genre,” Tomschin said. “I’ve been a fan my entire life.”

    Tomschin, 45, a government administrator, said “Crazy Arms” and “You Win Again” are two of his favorite songs by Lewis, who he described as one of a kind.

    “He never lived a life behind a curtain,” Tomschin said of Lewis. “In his ups and downs, the good and bad, he did what he was going to do. Jerry Lee Lewis laid it all out on the table. There’s never going to be another person like Jerry Lee Lewis.”

    Sandra Tomschin, 44, a library director, said she grew up on Lewis’ music and it’s left an indelible print on her life.

    “We love it,” she said of his music. “We’ve been to several of his concerts and even though he’s gone, he will still live on in our hearts.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Chevel Johnson contributed to this report from New Orleans; Associated Press writer Hillel Italie contributed from New York.

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  • Couple gets life in prison; wanted in 5 killings in 3 states

    Couple gets life in prison; wanted in 5 killings in 3 states

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    CHESTER, S.C. — A man and his girlfriend suspected of killing five people in three states last year have pleaded guilty to two of the killings in South Carolina and been sentenced to life in prison without parole, authorities said.

    Tyler Terry and Adrienne Simpson each pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and numerous other charges Wednesday in Chester County, according to media reports.

    Prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty in any of the five killings as long as the couple also pleaded guilty to two shootings near St. Louis, Missouri, and another in Memphis, Tennessee. All five deaths happened in May 2021, investigators said.

    Terry, 27, said nothing in court other than to answer questions about his guilty plea, while Simpson apologized to the families of the victims, which included her estranged husband.

    Simpson, 34, said she was heartbroken over what happened and wished she could turn back time. Her lawyer said Simpson has struggled with abusive relationships.

    Police began looking for Terry last year after he fired at an officer who tried to talk to him when he was parked at a closed restaurant. The officer kept chasing him with a bullet hole in her SUV’s windshield, authorities said.

    Simpson was arrested at the end of the chase, but Terry managed to avoid more than 300 officers looking for him over seven days in one of the largest manhunts law enforcement could recall in South Carolina.

    The couple pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing Simpson’s estranged husband Eugene in Chester County and Thomas Hardin in York County on the same day in May 2021.

    Terry and Simpson then ended up in Missouri 13 days later where prosecutors said they shot and killed Sergei Zacharev during a robbery in a restaurant parking lot in the St. Louis suburb of Brentwood. They then killed Barbara Goodkin as she sat in her car with her husband in University City, authorities said.

    Goodkin’s husband was also shot, but investigators said the bullet hit his cellphone, which may have saved his life.

    Two days later, Danterrio Coats was found shot to death near a car with its emergency flashers on in Memphis, said investigators, who think he was also robbed.

    Prosecutors in South Carolina said their counterparts in Tennessee and Missouri also agreed not to seek the death penalty against either Terry or Simpson as long as they plead guilty in those states, too.

    The couple will serve their life sentences in South Carolina prisons after they are sent to the other states to admit to the crimes, authorities said.

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  • Review: Miko Marks draws on church roots and bridges genres

    Review: Miko Marks draws on church roots and bridges genres

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    Miko Marks and the Resurrectors, “Feel Like Going Home” (Redtone Records)

    Miko Marks created a buzz last month performing at AmericanaFest in Nashville, Tennessee, and her latest album is an engaging encore.

    “Feel Like Going Home” is also the follow-up to “Our Country,” Marks’ 2021 album that marked the revival of her musical career after a hiatus of more than a decade to focus on family.

    Marks joins a welcome trend of recent breakouts in country music by Black women who defy genre boundaries. Her new album draws on gospel, the blues, Motown, Memphis soul, Southern rock and more, the result an auditory rainbow to match the visual delight provided on stage by Marks and her band, the Resurrectors.

    Marks never oversings, but every note is delivered with fervor on such subjects as deliverance, perseverance, transcendence and empowerment. Her church roots are a unifying element, with singalong choruses out of the choir loft and ballads as prayer.

    Steve Wyreman and Justin Phipps produced and wrote the material with Marks, and make distinctive contributions on multiple instruments.

    “Let me ride, ride, ride to the other side,” Marks sings on “The Other Side,” and Wyreman’s electric slide guitar emerges to show the way. His frantic playing provides an energetic push on “Trouble,” a topical stomper inspired by the late civil rights leader John Lewis. The song pairs passionate lyrics with an unspoken message: The joyful momentum of Marks’ music is not to be stopped.

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    https://apnews.com/hub/music-reviews

    ———

    This story has been updated to correct the pronoun in the lede.

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