Tyre Nichols' parents speak out ahead of federal court case

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (WMC/Gray News) – Jury selection began Monday in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death in January 2023.

The trial is expected to take three weeks.

In the run-up to the federal trial, Nichols' parents spoke about what responsibility means to them and desperately pleaded for a guilty verdict.

“He just kept saying, 'Mom, I'm turning 30, I'm turning 30.' I said, 'Yeah,'” said Tyre's mother, RowVaughn Wells.

Wells said she wanted to remember her son as a young father who loved skateboarding and photography and worked at FedEx with his stepfather, Rodney Wells.

“He lit up the warehouse. Everyone gravitated towards Tyre,” said Rodney Wells. “He had an infectious smile. He was just full of energy.”

Nichols had a bright future ahead of him, which ended on the night of January 7, 2023, when he was stopped by Memphis police.

“Nobody deserves to be beaten to death like Tyre,” said RowVaughn Wells.

Five former Memphis police officers have been charged with murder in a case that has attracted national attention.

Two officers, Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, have already pleaded guilty.

The other three, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, pleaded not guilty.

All five men are charged with first-degree murder in state court, and their trial will begin after the federal court proceedings.

“I feel sorry for them. They are young men who have thrown their whole lives away,” said RowVaughn Wells. “We just hope we get a guilty verdict because it's time for us to heal. We need to heal as a family, as a city.”

“[To] “We want closure and justice for Tyre, and a guilty verdict would allow us to do that,” Rodney Wells said.

A key piece of evidence in the trial will be hours of video recordings from surveillance cameras and the cameras worn by officers.

Nichols' mother said she couldn't bear to watch the footage.

“I don't want to see the video or anything else. I just want to remember my son walking out the door and the way he walked out the door,” said RowVaughn Wells.

RowVaughn Wells said she remembers the last conversation with her son well.

“He came into the kitchen, hugged me and said, 'Mom, I'll see you later,' and I said, 'Okay, Ty,' but I never had a chance to see him again except at the hospital, where in my mind he was already dead,” she said. “We were told Ty had only been pepper sprayed and tasered, but then we got to the hospital and I saw a completely different scenario.”

Nichols' parents hope the trial will answer many of their questions about what happened that night.

Nichols' parents said they still don't know why he was stopped in the first place.

“They were aggressive from the beginning, like he had robbed a bank or something,” Rodney Wells said.

Renowned civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is representing Nichols' family.

“We want full justice; we want criminal and civil accountability,” Crump said.

The family has filed a lawsuit against the city of Memphis, the MPD and the officers involved in Nichols' death.

“I'm still praying, and it's fighting. What were they thinking?” Crump said.

Nichols' grieving parents are now preparing to relive the worst night of their lives.

“What they did to my son was inexcusable, and when I see them, I don't wish anything bad on anyone. That's not who I am. But those five can go to hell,” said RowVaughn Wells.

WMC reached out to Memphis Police for comment on the case, but police said they would not comment pending the outcome of any legal proceedings.

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