30 January 2023
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police say officer Preston Hemphill has been relieved of duty for his involvement in the confrontation with Tyre Nichols.
Hemphill, hired in 2018, is the sixth officer implicated in the fatal beating of Nichols. Five other officers were fired and have been charged with second-degree murder.
According to MPD, Hemphill has been relieved of duty since the beginning of the investigation.
MPD has not disclosed Hemphill’s role in the incident. Audio recordings of police radio traffic indicate Hemphill was one of the first officers in the initial traffic stop that led to the confrontation with Nichols.
The department says the investigation is ongoing, and they will release additional information once it becomes available.
Records show Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean, who were fired along with one other officer after Nichols’ death, were released on bond after they were booked into the Shelby County Jail last Thursday morning.
All five officers were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct, and official oppression.
They were members of MPD’s SCORPION Unit, a special force that focused on repeat offenders and saturating high-crime areas that was disbanded by MPD after video of the confrontation with Nichols was released.
Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, three days after a traffic stop by Memphis Police that ended with Nichols being severely injured in a hospital. His funeral is set for Wednesday.
Video shows Nichols left bloody and bruised in the street after he was pepper-sprayed and beaten by police yards away from his parents’ home in Hickory Hill.
Two Shelby County deputies and Memphis Fire Department employees also have been relieved of duty during the investigation.