Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy, Sen. London Lamar and others comment on the ruling in the federal trial for the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols. 

The jury handed down its verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith on Thursday, Oct. 3, the climax of a nearly four-week federal trial.

Defense attorneys representing the three defendants made their closing arguments Wednesday afternoon and continued through 7:20 p.m.

In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told jurors that officers wanted to punish Tyre Nichols after he ran from a 2023 traffic stop and that they thought they could get away with it. 

Three people, including a teenager in Nashville, were arrested for the threats that prompted MSCS-wide lockdowns last month. 

The retired officer said Smith had a reputation for his passion for the job, his professionalism and making sure his conduct was “legal and ethical.”

Rev. Autura Eason-Williams was described as “a bridge” between people as her friends and family told the court Monday what her death meant to them. 

The school resource officer faces two counts of rape and one charge of sexual battery related to a single incident last week. 

The $12.8 million University Crime Information Center is a place where officers can monitor, in real-time, a network of more than 1,200 cameras spread around the school’s campuses.

Prosecutors say rapper Adolph Thornton Jr., also known as Young Dolph, was shot and killed in 2021 due to a longstanding feud between two rival record labels.

A retired police chief from the Gallatin Police Department testified one former MPD officer went through the appropriate use-of-force continuum the night of Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating.

Demetrius Haley moved for acquittal Thursday, joining Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean who filed their motions for acquittal earlier in the afternoon.

Seven years after Lisa Sloan was left incapacitated after a drag racer crashed into her car and three years after she died from those injuries, her family found a small amount of peace in a courtroom.

The prosecution in the federal trial against three officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols rested its case after hearing testimony from its 19th and final witness, a former ER nurse at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis. 

Testimony on Thursday, Sept. 26, unveiled texts and statements, one in which a former Memphis officer charged in the case said he felt it was his fault Tyre Nichols died. 

“‘The radio sounds better than how the camera looks,’” Desmond Mills Jr. recalled Lt. Dewayne Smith saying of the Nichols footage.

Desmond Mills Jr. testified Wednesday he was afraid of telling the truth because, “I’d be sitting in the exact seat I’m sitting in now.”

“We sit right next to one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but our crime rate has remained low,” Sheriff Thomas Tuggle said, referring to Memphis at DeSoto’s northern doorstep.

“I wish I could have stopped the punches,” Desmond Mills Jr. said. “It hurt to watch. … I felt bad every time his picture’s on the screen and to know I’m a part of that.”

Desmond Mills Jr., one of the cops who previously pleaded guilty in the death of Tyre Nichols, began his testimony Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the federal trial against the three former police officers.

Eduard Rodriguez-Tabora, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 18, 2022, carjacking and killing of Autura Eason-Williams in the driveway of her Whitehaven home.

On the second day of the trial for Justin Johnson, the jury was shown photos of the shooting and Johnson’s his half-brother Jemarcus Johnson took the stand.

Sheriff Thomas Tuggle’s statements Monday were his first on the case in over a month, a decision he compared to a game of chess with the media.

Both witnesses said they deleted the Nichols photo. “I didn’t want that in my phone,” said one.

Lorie Ann Mealer Pennell would very likely still be a Jane Doe if it weren’t for Amber Edlin, a crime-scene technician with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office.