Five former officers won’t be part of Nichols civil suit until after criminal cases
From left to right: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith are the Memphis Police officers terminated in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. (Courtesy MPD)
The five are defendants in both the criminal and civil cases.
Topics
Tyre Nichols Emmitt Martin III Tadarrius Bean Demetrius Haley Desmond Mills Jr. Justin SmithSamuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise reporter who focuses on government and politics. He began his career at the Tulsa World where he covered business and K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on the intersection of government, public policy, influence and how public dollars are spent.
Aarron Fleming
Once an intern, he never left, joining the staff full-time in 2022 as an education reporter. He moved to public safety in 2023, where he covered some of the city’s biggest court cases, including the criminal trials for those charged in the deaths of Tyré Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also chronicled the Shelby County Jail and the deaths that have occurred at the facility.
He now provides suburban coverage, focusing on DeSoto County and the surrounding municipalities.
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