MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A former Memphis police officer who has pleaded guilty to violating Tyre Nichols’ civil rights testified in tears Tuesday, saying he left Nichols’ young son fatherless, that he was sorry and that he wishes he had stopped the punches.
Desmond Mills took the stand in the trial of three former colleagues, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who are charged in the January 2023 beating. As video of the pummeling played, Mills testified in the most emotional moment for a former officer so far in the trial, now in its third week. The judge paused and gave him a water bottle and a prosecutor gave Mills a moment to compose himself.
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“I made his child fatherless,” said Mills, who used a baton to strike Nichols. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know sorry can’t bring him back.”
Mills said it hurt to know he was a part of that beating.
“It hurt inside so much,” he said.
The officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols, who was Black, during a traffic stop, but the 29-year-old ran away, police video shows. The five officers, who also are Black, then punched, kicked and hit him about a block from his home.
Mills described video of the officers talking and laughing near the injured Nichols. Mills acknowledged he and fellow officers didn't request emergency services and didn't tell their supervisor they had punched, kicked and hit Nichols with a baton.
“It was ugly,” he said.
Mills said he removed his body camera after the beating when Martin motioned toward him to do so because he wanted to tell Mills something.
Mills testified earlier Tuesday that he was looking to leave his crime suppression unit. He said he didn’t like the structure or “go-go-go” approach of the Scorpion Unit, whose success was determined by arrest numbers and other statistics.
“I didn’t like the hostility” team members showed citizens, Mills said. He noted that Haley and Emmitt Martin were known as the Smash Bros. for being overly aggressive and that Haley did not always turn on his body camera. Martin took a plea deal and already testified in the trial.
Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. An autopsy report shows Nichols — the father of a boy who is now 7 — died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his body.
Mills, who was teamed up with Bean when Bean joined the Scorpion Unit in 2022, said Bean was inexperienced. He said he had to teach Bean how to differentiate between the types of drugs found at crime scenes.
Jurors again watched Mills’ body camera, which shows Nichols calling for his mother and Bean and Smith punching him without trying to handcuff him, Mills said.
Defense attorneys have questioned whether Martin and Justin Smith should have been working on the streets that day. Martin has testified he was angry after an on-the-job injury and had seen a counselor before returning to the Scorpion team four days before the Nichols beating.
Justin Smith hurt his knee the day before the beating and was on desk duty before his supervisor, Lt. Dewayne Smith, asked him to go out and join his team the night it happened, Dewayne Smith testified.
Mills testified that Justin Smith had checked on Martin and he was not doing well after a car hit him on the job.
“Mentally, something was wrong” with Martin, Mills said.
Mills said he pepper sprayed Nichols because he thought it would help to get Nichols handcuffed. He said he did not try to help handcuff Nichols because “I was just focused on using the pepper spray.”
Mills noted he weighed 305-310 pounds (about 140 kilograms) and Martin weighed about 270-280 (about 125 kilograms). Nichols was the “smallest person out there,” Mills said.
The Scorpion Unit, which looked for drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders, was disbanded after Nichols’ death.
Haley, Bean and Justin Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice through witness tampering.
The Associated Press analyzed what the officers claimed happened on the night of the beating and what video shows. The AP sifted through hundreds of pages of evidence and hours of video from the scene, including officer body cameras.
The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.
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Associated Press reporter Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.