Second former US police officer pleads guilty in death of Tyre Nichols | Court news

Emmitt Martin is one of five fired officers charged in connection with the fatal 2023 beating that renewed calls for police reform.

A second former Memphis police officer has pleaded guilty in connection with the killing of black driver Tyre Nichols. The videotaped beating of five black police officers in January 2023 shocked the United States.

Emmitt Martin pleaded guilty to two of four federal charges against him – one for depriving Nichols of his civil rights and another for witness tampering – according to his plea agreement filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Tennessee.

The verdict is scheduled for December 5.

Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, who was in the courtroom Friday, said the hearing was “very emotional” and “bittersweet.”

The latest confession is a step in the right direction, she said, but added that she will not be satisfied until all officers are brought to justice. “Tyre just came home. He was just minding his own business,” Wells said.

Martin agreed to cooperate with the investigation, raising the possibility that he would testify against former colleagues because he admitted to working with the others to produce a misleading report about the beating.

“Out of anger, Emmitt Martin used excessive force against Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023. Out of fear, he attempted to cover it up,” defense attorney Stephen Ross Johnson wrote in an email to Reuters.

“Today in court he took responsibility for his actions,” said Johnson, who declined to comment on whether Martin would testify against the others.

Martin is also expected to plead guilty to related charges in the state of Tennessee, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office said Friday.

In November, Desmond Mills, another former Memphis police officer, pleaded guilty to the federal charges and agreed to plead guilty to related Tennessee state charges as well. In exchange, Mills, who faced life in prison, agreed with state and federal prosecutors to a 15-year sentence, prosecutors said at the time.

As part of Martin's plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Martin and Mills were among five officers who previously pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights violations and state first-degree murder charges.

The federal trial is scheduled to begin on September 9. The state trial is on hold while the federal case develops.

The murder sparked nationwide protests and reignited the debate about racism and police violence in the United States.

Nichols was stopped by police on Jan. 7 for an alleged traffic violation and was aggressively dragged from his car by officers. An officer shot Nichols with a stun gun, but he ran away toward his nearby home, according to video footage released by the city of Memphis and other police records.

Officers from a crime-fighting team known as Scorpion caught up with Nichols, punched, kicked him and beat him with a baton while he called for his mother.

After the beating, officers stood by and talked with each other as Nichols lay on the ground struggling with his injuries, a video shows. An officer also took photos of Nichols as he leaned against an unmarked police car, a video and other records show.

Nichols was taken to a hospital by ambulance that left the scene of the fight 27 minutes after paramedics arrived, authorities said.

Nichols, 29, died three days later. An autopsy revealed that blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death.

Police said Nichols was suspected of reckless driving, but no verified evidence of a traffic violation appeared in public documents or video footage.