Former Memphis Police Officer Demetrius Haley is rumored to have connections to Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Memphis man who was beaten to death by five officers in January.
According to Local ABC Memphis, Demetrius Haley who formerly worked for the Shelby County Division of Corrections as a corrections officer was cited in a 2016 civil rights lawsuit for allegedly beating a prison inmate to unconsciousness.
Haley was named as one of two officers who allegedly assaulted the inmate during a random search.
The lawsuit said Haley accused the inmate of flushing contraband down a toilet, and then punched the inmate in the face. Another officer slammed the inmate into a sink, the lawsuit said, and he then lost consciousness, waking up in a medical unit.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2018 due to the inmate not filing a grievance against Haley and the other officer on time, and Haley was hired by MPD in 2020.
Demetrius Haley had this on his record before he was hired by Memphis police.
Newsweek reported oon Wednesday that Memphis police are investigating this rumor.
The Memphis Police Department is currently investigating rumors regarding a possible connection between Tyre Nichols and the ex-wife or ex-girlfriend of one of the Memphis cops arrested and charged in Nichols’ death.
On Wednesday morning, Newsweek asked the Shelby County district attorney’s office if it is investigating possible rumors connecting Nichols to the ex-girlfriend or ex-wife of former Memphis cop Demetrius Haley. Additionally, Newsweek asked about rumors that Haley sent photos of Nichols to his ex-wife following the violent arrest of the 29-year-old Black man.
“All of this is still under investigation. Those are the things, along with the participation of others, that [are] now the subject of our investigation,” a spokesperson for the Shelby County district attorney told Newsweek in response.
Erica Williams, the director of communications at the Shelby County district attorney’s office, clarified to Newsweek that rumors about Nichols having a connection to the woman have not been “confirmed.”
“We know that there have been questions about other officers and Fire Department personnel on the scene, persons remotely operating cameras, the potential of false reporting, among other things. We are now at the stage of our investigation where we are looking into all of these matters,” Williams told Newsweek.