Second Memphis Officer to Change Plea in Death of Tyre Nichols

A second former Memphis police officer is set to change his not-guilty plea to federal charges connected to the beating and death of Tyre Nichols last year, according to court documents filed Thursday.

The officer, Emmitt Martin III, is among the former officers who were indicted on federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction charges last September. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday for a change-of-plea hearing.

Whether he has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, and if so, what it involves, was not immediately clear. Another former officer in the case, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty in November to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and excessive force, as part of a deal struck with federal prosecutors.

The remaining three officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — have pleaded not guilty to both federal and state charges related to the death of Mr. Nichols. A federal trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9 in Memphis.

It remains unclear why Memphis police officers stopped Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, as he was driving home from work on Jan. 7, 2023. Video footage captured by surveillance cameras and the officers’ body cameras showed that the encounter became violent, as the officers kicked and pummeled Mr. Nichols, despite his lack of resistance and his pained pleas for them to stop.

Mr. Nichols died in a hospital three days later, and an autopsy report ruled his death to have been a homicide caused by blows to the head.