MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills Jr. testified Tuesday that he regrets his failure to stop the beating of Tyre Nichols after Nichols ran away from a traffic stop in 2023.
Mills’ testimony came in the second day of the trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was beaten as he cried out for his mother just steps from his home. The three defendants already face the prospect of years behind bars after they were convicted of federal charges last year.
Footage of the beating was captured by a police pole camera and also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled. Nichols’ death led to national protests, raised the volume on calls for police reforms in the U.S. and directed intense scrutiny toward the police force in Memphis, a majority-Black city.
Mills pleaded guilty to federal charges last year and has agreed to plead guilty to state charges as well.
Mills says he hit Nichols out of anger after pepper-spraying himself