Second Memphis police officer pleads guilty in Tyre Nichols’ death

(Reuters) – A second former Memphis police officer pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges in the death of black motorist Tyre Nichols, whose videotaped beating by five black officers in January 2023 shocked the United States.

Emmitt Martin III, one of five fired officers facing criminal charges, is also expected to plead guilty to Tennessee state charges, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Martin pleaded guilty to two of four federal charges against him — one for depriving Nichols of his civil rights and the other for witness tampering — and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to his plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

That suggests he could testify against other former officers, with Martin having admitted conspiring with the others to provide a misleading account of the beating. Members of his defense team did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

In November, another fired Memphis police officer, Desmond Mills, pleaded guilty to federal charges and also agreed to plead guilty to related Tennessee state charges, part of a deal in which he pledged to cooperate with federal and state prosecutions, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said at the time.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Mills, who faced life in prison, agreed to a 15-year sentence with state and federal prosecutors, the statement said.

Under Martin’s plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 40 years, and Martin can seek a sentence less than that.

Martin and Mills were among five officers who previously pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights violations and state charges of second-degree murder.

The federal trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9. The state trial is on hold while the federal case develops.

The case is part of a series that has sparked national debate over racism and police brutality in the United States.

Police video showed officers kicking, punching, pepper spraying and hitting Nichols with a baton on Jan. 7, 2023.

Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days later.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta, editing by Aurora Ellis)