One of the Memphis police officers accused in the beating death of Tyre Nichols admitted that he used his cellphone to text a picture of Tyre Nichols after he was brutally beaten on Jan. 7, according The New York Times.
Demetrius Haley said he sent a photograph of Nichols, who was bleeding and almost unconscious, to at least five people, including two fellow officers, a civilian employee of the department and a female acquaintance.
Video footage of the beating shows Haley approaching Nichols as he is leaning against a car and shining a flashlight at him before positioning his cellphone in Nichols’ direction. He then walks away, looks at his cellphone, and returns to point his cellphone towards Nichols again.
According to The Times, the Memphis Police Department bars officers from using personal cellphones while on duty.
Five officers — Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — have been fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression.
Read the full report at The New York Times.
