It’s been a grief-stricken road for RowVaughn Wells nearly two years after the fatal beating of her son Tyre Nichols.
On Thursday, the Memphis, Tennessee, mother was able to close one chapter after three of the five former police officers were found guilty of federal witness tampering charges in the fatal beating. But they were acquitted of the most severe charge of violating his civil rights by causing his death.
“All of them have been convicted of something and they’re going to jail,” Wells said, according to The Commercial Appeal. “That’s how I feel. This has been a long journey for our family. I’m actually in shock right now because I can’t believe all this stuff is going on. But we’re happy that they all have been convicted.”
The verdicts came down around 5 p.m. after a nearly four-week trial. Jurors deliberated for several hours before coming back with the mixed verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith. The three former officers were taken into custody by marshals after the verdicts were announced. The trio face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced on Jan. 22.
“Today, justice has prevailed for Tyre Nichols and his family,” attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement after the verdict.
The brutal beating was an unnerving reminder that having more Black police officers doesn’t necessarily stop police brutality. All the officers involved are Black.
The fatal encounter, captured from multiple angles on body cameras and security footage, squashed any lingering notions that diversity is the answer to America’s age-old problem with police violence. After Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2015, there was a flood of conversation about diversifying police forces in majority-Black communities. But just a few months prior in Baltimore, Freddie Gray, who was arrested for a minor offense, eventually died from injuries he suffered while in police custody. Three out of the six officers in that case were Black.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, the conversation shifted to leadership as Black police officers were hired and promoted to chiefs. But during that time, there’s been little change in the rate of police fatalities. By the end of 2023, 320 Black people were killed by police — the highest number in a five-year period, according to the Mapping Police Violence database. So far this year, 224 Black people have been killed by police.
Nichols died after a traffic stop in January 2023. The FedEx worker cried out for his mother as the officers repeatedly kicked, used a baton and Tasers, and pepper sprayed him. He was hospitalized for three days before he died from his injuries.
The other former officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and deprivation of rights under color of law using excessive force. Martin faces up to 40 years, and Mills faces up to 15.
Read More: The ‘Black Cop’ Isn’t Enough Reform to End Police Brutality
Decarcerate Memphis, a coalition of community leaders, released a report earlier this year that revealed something they already knew — Black motorists in their city are targeted for pretextual traffic stops. The group used data provided by the Memphis Police Department.
The report explored those stops nine months after Nichols was beaten to death by the former officers. It revealed, in part, that Black residents made up 91% of people accused of a crime in cases stemming from pretextual traffic stops, and “Black drivers are 2.5 times as likely as white drivers to receive multiple citations on one ticket.”
Last month, Nichols’ mother told Action News 5 that she still refused to watch her son’s last moments.
“I don’t want to see the video or anything, I just want to remember my son when he walked out that door, the way he walked out the door,” Wells told the station of her last memory of her son.
Nichols’ death sparked protests, while the public, lawmakers, and President Joe Biden reacted as they did following George Floyd’s murder: with renewed calls to “do something” about police reform.
Nichols was pulled over on Jan. 7, 2023, for alleged reckless driving. A physical altercation ensued, and the 29-year-old man attempted to run away from the officers. Nichols was not far from his mother’s house when he was pulled over. He ran in that direction until the officers caught up to him.
Mills admitted that he “repeatedly and unjustifiably” used a baton to beat Nichols, did not intervene to stop the other officers from the beating, and did not provide medical aid, according to a U.S. Justice Department press release. He also admitted to making false statements in connection to Nichols’ arrest, and submitted a report that “provided a false account of the force used on Nichols, including a claim that Mills saw Nichols ‘aggressively resisting’ officers.”
The Justice Department launched a civil pattern or practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department.
The Memphis City Council passed the Driving Equality Act in honor of Nichols in April 2023, but the city’s former mayor refused to sign the ordinance during the last months of his term. The city’s new mayor said that he would, and it was signed into law in March.
Following the federal trial, all five officers will face state charges, including second-degree murder and aggravated assault, unauthorized exercise of power, and official misconduct. They have pleaded not guilty. A date for the state trial has not been set yet.
The attorneys representing Nichols’ family said Thursday they will continue to push for justice in the state criminal case and the civil case.
“When people hear Tyre’s name, I want them to smile,” Wells told The Commercial Appeal earlier this year. “I don’t want them to say, ‘That’s that young man who got murdered by the Memphis Police Department.’ I want them to say, ‘That’s that beautiful young man that loves photography and loves to smile.'”