Independent autopsy finds Tyre Nichols suffered "excessive bleeding" after encounter with police, family lawyers say
Attorneys representing the family of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after an encounter with police in Memphis, Tennessee, said Tuesday that an independent autopsy they commissioned found that Nichols suffered "extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating." The full findings of the report were not made public.
Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement that the autopsy was performed by "a highly regarded, nationally renowned forensic pathologist."
"Further details and findings from this independent report will be disclosed at another time," the statement said.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was involved in a traffic stop with members of the Memphis Police Department. One day after the stop, police said that there had been a "confrontation" when officers approached Nichols' vehicle. He then fled the scene before another "confrontation," police said.
After Nichols' family and their attorneys viewed bodycam footage of the incident, they compared it to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police. That footage is expected to be made public on Friday, Jan. 27.
The family's attorneys said Tuesday that the autopsy's preliminary findings determined that Nichols' observed injuries were "consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on the video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7, 2023."
Nichols' mother, RowVaugn Wells, told "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday that when she was shown the video, "All I heard my son say was, 'What did I do?' I just lost it from there."
Wells said she was unable to bring herself to watch the video in full, which she said showed Nichols being tased, beaten and pepper-sprayed.
"I saw police brutality at its finest," Nichols' stepfather, Rodney Wells, told "CBS Mornings." "I saw a helpless, young Black man being beat by several officers."
At a press conference Monday, Romanucci said the bodycam footage showed an "unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating" of Nichols.
While no official cause of death has been released, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported that on Jan. 10, Nichols "succumbed to his injuries," without describing the nature of those injuries. Police have said Nichols was hospitalized after complaining of "shortness of breath." The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation of the incident.
On Friday, Jan. 20, the five officers involved in the traffic stop were fired following an "internal investigation," which determined that they had "violated multiple department policies, including excessive force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid," said Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis in a statement.
The following week, on Thursday, Jan. 26, official announced that the five officers were being charged with second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and other charges.
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C Mandler is a social media producer and trending topics writer for CBS News, focusing on American politics and LGBTQ+ issues.
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