Ex-Memphis Cop Says He Regrets Not Stopping Tyre Nichols Beating

UPDATED: 8:00 AM EST April 30, 2025

Tyre Nichols’ family will get another opportunity at justice, as the trial has started for ex-officers accused of beating him to death.

An ex-officer involved in the beating of Tyre Nichols expressed regret for not intervening during the horrific assault that resulted in the young Black man’s death.

During testimony at the start of the trial this week, former Memphis officer Desmond Mills Jr. took the stand and acknowledged he had a duty to stop the beating but failed to do so, according to ABC News.
“Do you regret that?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” Mills replied.

According to ABC News, Mills and ex-officer Emmitt Martin pleaded guilty and are not standing trial alongside their former colleagues under agreements with prosecutors.

Mills took the stand as a witness for the prosecution, agreeing to testify against ex-officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith.

Defense attorneys later tried to refute claims that the officers used unnecessary force during the beating death of Nichols.

From ABC News:

Under cross-examination, Mills said Nichols was actively resisting arrest and not complying with repeated orders to give officers his hands so that he could be handcuffed.

Defense attorney John Keith Perry asked Mills if he would have struck Nichols with the baton if Nichols had just put his hands behind his back. Mills said no.

Perry also asked Mills if he thought Bean and Smith were holding Nichols so that Martin could hit Nichols. Mills said he didn’t think that was the case.

Defense attorneys then tried to paint Nichols as the aggressor. 

“That guy was whipping y’all’s tail, wasn’t he?” Martin Zummach, Smith’s attorney, asked Mills.

Mills said yes, but later admitted that Nicols never punched or kicked officers.

Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represent the family of Tyre Nichols, told NewsOne that the trial was an important step in getting justice for Tyre Nichols and his family.

“As the state trial begins for the former Memphis police officers charged in the brutal killing of Tyre Nichols, we are reminded of the profound pain and loss his family continues to endure. This trial marks a critical step in the pursuit of justice for Tyre, whose life was senselessly taken in an act of unconscionable violence,” said the legal team in a statement.

“We stand in solidarity with Tyre’s family and the Memphis community as this legal process unfolds, and we will continue to advocate for transparency, accountability, and meaningful reform to prevent such tragedies in the future.” 

In 2024, the mother of Tyre Nichols, RowVaughn Wells, sued the city, claiming the Memphis Police Scorpion Unit used “seething aggression and unjustified force” against Tyre Nichols when they viciously attacked him after pulling him over for an alleged traffic violation back in January 2023.

The $550 million federal lawsuit names the city of Memphis, Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis, and 10 current and former city employees.

Earlier this year, the civil lawsuit trial date was reset from Jan. 3, 2025, to July 13, 2026.

In 2024, during the federal trial, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were all convicted of witness tampering for trying to cover up the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols.

Bean and Smith were acquitted of violating the 29-year-old’s civil rights. Haley was also found not guilty of violating Nichols’ civil rights, but he was convicted of violating Nichols’ civil rights, causing bodily injury, the latter of which carries a much less harsh penalty than the former. Bean and Smith were found not guilty of a conspiracy to witness-tampering charge, for which Bean was convicted, the Associated Press reported.

What happened to Tyre Nichols?

Nichols, a father to a young son, died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was hospitalized from injuries sustained during a violent arrest for the alleged offense of reckless driving. Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, and Tadarrius Bean were shown on the bodycam video approaching Nichols’ car on the night of Jan. 7, aggressively ordering him out without disclosing a reason for doing so. Nichols was thrown to the ground and pepper-sprayed and assaulted before he was able to get up and run for his life.

When officers located Nichols a little while later, they took out their apparent anger on him by taking turns beating and kicking him, including multiple blows to his face for minutes at a time.

The results from an independent preliminary autopsy showed Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”

Nichols’ mother said the video is evidence that the Memphis Police Department “murdered” her son.

Nichols’ older brother likened the death to Emmett Till.

“Knowing the history of police interactions with the Black community throughout time, these men took a position of power and instead of doing something to better the future and honor the past, they became no better than the days of Emmett Till,” Jamal Dupree said in a joint statement with friend Angelina Paxton. “They have let us all down. Justice will be served to them.”

Crump said the officers treated Nichols like “a human piñata” and compared the police violence to the infamous Rodney King beating in 1991.

A Memphis grand jury subsequently indicted the officers on charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct, official oppression and aggravated kidnapping despite calls for charges of first-degree murder.

In addition, three fire department workers were also fired, but not criminally charged, for neglecting to render aid to Nichols. Several other police personnel have been disciplined for their roles, as well, but not fired.

The police violence prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an external review of the Memphis Police Department.

The Memphis district attorney’s office reviewed around 100 cases shared between former cops, with at least 30 of them getting dismissed and around a dozen having charges reduced.

SEE ALSO:

Tyre Nichols Family Seeks Justice: $550M Lawsuit Heads To Memphis Court

Ex-Memphis Cops Who Beat Tyre Nichols To Death Found Not Guilty Of Harshest Charges

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