Family members and supporters hold up a photo of Tire Nichols at a news conference in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday.
(Gerald Herbert/AP)
(CNN) --
Tire Nichols, a black man who died two weeks ago after a confrontation with Memphis police, suffered "extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating," according to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.
“We can state that preliminary findings indicate that Tire suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating, and that his observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7. 2023," attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement.
CNN asked Crump for a copy of the autopsy commissioned by the family, but said the full report is not yet ready.
Officials have also not released Nichols' autopsy.
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Nichols, 29, was pulled over by Memphis officers on January 7 for alleged reckless driving, according to a police statement.
As officers approached the vehicle, a "standoff" occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said.
The officers gave chase and had another "standoff" before they took him into custody, police said.
Nichols later complained of difficulty breathing, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.
Authorities have not released video of the arrest.
However, lawyers for the family who saw him on Monday described it as an excruciating police beating that lasted three long minutes.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Nichols was electrocuted, pepper-sprayed and restrained, likening it to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police.
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The Memphis Police Department has fired five officers, all black, for violating policies on excessive use of force, the duty to intervene and the duty to render assistance, the department said.
“The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work our officers do, with integrity, every day,” Chief Cerelyn Davis said at the time.
In addition, two members of the city's fire department were fired.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols' death, and the US Department of Justice and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation.
The federal prosecutor overseeing the federal civil rights investigation said Wednesday that he met with Nichols' family earlier this week and vowed that his investigation into the case will be "thorough" and "methodical."
“Our federal investigation may take some time, as these things often do, but we will be diligent and make decisions based on the facts and the law,” said Kevin Ritz, US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Nichols had worked with his father at FedEx for about nine months, his family said.
He liked Starbucks, skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park and shooting sunsets, and he had his mother's name tattooed on his arm.
He also had Crohn's disease, a digestive problem, so he weighed between 63 and 65 kilograms despite his 1.92-meter height, his mother said.
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Nichols' death on January 10 follows a series of recent high-profile cases involving police using excessive force toward members of the public, particularly black youth.
Crump has previously represented the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Breonna Taylor.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights figure and president of the National Action Network (NAN), said in a statement that he will attend Nichols' funeral next week in Memphis.
The video will be published soon, says the prosecution
The family and lawyers viewed footage of the incident on Monday and said they were disturbed by what it showed.
“He was helpless the whole time.
He was a human piñata for those policemen.
It was an unadulterated, brazen, non-stop beating from this young man for three minutes.
That's what we saw on that video," attorney Antonio Romanucci said.
"Not only was he violent, he was savage."
"What I saw on the video today was horrible," Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, said Monday.
"No father or mother should have to witness what I saw today."
Crump described the video as "appalling," "deplorable" and "appalling."
He said Ravaughn Wells, Nichols's mother, was unable to view the first minute of footage after hearing Nichols ask, "What did I do?"
At the end of the recording, Nichols can be heard calling his mother three times, the lawyer said.
Nichols fled from the police, her stepfather said, because she was afraid.
"Our son ran because he feared for his life," Wells said Monday.
“He didn't run because he was trying to get rid of drugs, weapons, nothing like that.
He ran because he feared for his life.
And when you watch the video, you'll see why he feared for his life."
Video of the incident could be released this week or next, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN's Laura Coates Tuesday night, but he wants to make sure his office has interviewed everyone involved beforehand. to post the video so it doesn't have an impact on their statements.
“A lot of people's questions about what exactly happened, of course, will be answered once people see the video,” Mulroy said, noting that he believes the city will release enough footage to show “the entirety of the incident, from the beginning to the end.”
Prosecutors are trying to expedite the investigation and may be able to make a determination on possible charges "around the same time period that we contemplate the release of the video," Mulroy said.
Nichols' family wants the officers charged with murder, family attorney Antonio Romanucci told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday night.
“The family wants nothing more than an absolute majority of the charges they can bring, and what they want is murder charges,” Romanucci said, adding, “I would support those charges if they can be brought.”
Nichols' stepfather said Monday that justice for the family meant "homicide one" and "anything less than that, we won't have it."
Police identify five fired officers
Pictured above, from left to right, are former agents Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, and below, from left to right, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean.
(Memphis Police Department)
The Memphis Police Department identified the fired officers as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith.
The fire department employees who were fired were part of Nichols' "initial patient care" and were relieved of their duties "while an internal investigation is conducted," Qwanesha Ward, the department's public information officer, told CNN's Nadia Romero.
When asked Tuesday what those Fire Department employees did or didn't do, Romanucci told CNN there were "limitations" on how much he could say.
“For a period of time before emergency services arrive on the scene, firefighters are on the scene.
And they are there with Tire and the police officers before the emergency services arrive,” he said.
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The Memphis Police Association, the union that represents the officers, declined to comment on the firings beyond saying the city of Memphis and Nichols' family "deserve to know the full account of the events leading up to his death." and what may have contributed to it".
One of five officers fired after Nichols' death was a defendant in a 2016 federal civil lawsuit in which an inmate at the Shelby County Correctional Center claimed he was beaten and had his civil rights violated.
The suit was later dismissed.
Demetrius Haley, who was a correctional officer at the time, was one of three Shelby County correctional officers accused by the plaintiff of leading them into a bathroom to search them.
The lawsuit, which was filed when the plaintiff was an inmate, alleges that the officers accused the inmate of attempting to dump contraband.
According to the complaint, "Haley and McClain struck (plaintiff) in the face with punches."
He goes on to say that the plaintiff was picked up and slammed face-first into a sink by a third correctional officer, then thrown to the ground, after which he alleges that he "passed out" and woke up in a medical unit.
CNN has reached out to the attorneys who represented Haley in the lawsuit.
CNN has also reached out to the Shelby County Correctional Center for comment on Haley's previous position.
According to court documents, Haley filed a response to the lawsuit asking that it be dismissed.
The document says Haley and another correctional officer searched the inmate after they "observed smoke" and claim the inmate attempted to flush the contraband down the toilet, but Haley denied the other claims.
Haley and another defendant subsequently filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case because the plaintiff had not exhausted his administrative remedies.
That motion was granted and the case was dismissed in 2018.
Haley was hired by the Memphis Police Department in August 2020, police said.
CNN's Dakin Andone and Pamela Kirkland contributed to this report.