The family of Tyre Nichols is taking steps to move forward with a civil lawsuit against the city of Memphis.
ABC News reports the family plans to pursue the lawsuit soon, with legal counsel Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci, and retired Judge Earnestine Hunt Dorse planning to make the announcement today. In a statement from Crump’s office, the attorneys will also sue Memphis police for “intentional infliction of emotional distress for lying to his mother.”
It’s been a little over three months since Tyre Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten by five Black Memphis police officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith. Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving when a confrontation occurred between Nichols and several officers, resulting in the victim taking off on foot. Video footage shows the officers eventually catching up to him and another fight before he is taken into custody.
The graphic video was released and made global headlines, prompting protests worldwide calling for the end of police brutality. Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, received a call around 4 a.m. from doctors advising her and her husband to come to the hospital. The doctors told
her Nichols went into cardiac arrest and was suffering from kidney failure. Police came to her door and alerted her that her son had been tased or pepper sprayed. However, doctors said his injuries didn’t “sound consistent” with those claims.Following his arrest, Nichols complained of shortness of breath and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He died three days later.
All five officers were charged with second-degree murder but pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance in February. Nichols’ parents appeared during Biden’s State of the Union address as he pushed the narrative on the growing topic of police reform after Wells made a passionate plea for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.