A long-time Memphis law enforcement source tells The Tennessee Star rumors about guards at the Shelby County Division of Corrections being involved in street gangs have been circulating for years, although he knows of no correction officer implicated in such a crime.
“There have always been rumors about that, but they’ve never been substantiated that I know of,” the official with knowledge of the Shelby County criminal justice system told The Star. “The joke in Memphis criminal justice has long been the jailers are one step ahead of being in jail themselves.”
Multiple unconfirmed reports suggest at least one of the five former Memphis Police officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols was involved in the notorious Vice Lords street gang.
Demetrius Haley, 30, who previously worked as a correction officer at the jail, was a defendant in a 2016 lawsuit alleging he and another guard beat up inmate Cordarlrius Sledge.
As the New York Post reported, Sledge’s allegations emerged as horrifying video released a week ago showed the relentless brutality endured by Nichols, 29, a black man who was pulled over in a Jan. 7 traffic stop near his mother’s home in Memphis. He died three days later.
Haley and four other Memphis officers with the now-disbanded Scorpion anti-violence unit — Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith—have each been charged with one count of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Haley and another officer punched Sledge in the face during a search for a cellphone, according to court records. Sledge accused a third guard of slamming him face-first into a sink.
“Haley was the most vicious,” the former inmate told the Post.
Haley joined the Memphis police force in August 2020.
“He got a promotion, from corrections officer to police officer,” Sledge said. “I didn’t believe my damn eyes.”
The judge in the case dismissed the lawsuit after Sledge failed to file requested information with the court.
Rumors about a possible relationship Nichols had with Haley’s ex-wife also have been circulating.
Earlier this week, Memphis Police Department Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph told The Star in an emailed statement, “There is no evidence that either of these claims are true,” in response to whether Nichols was targeted in the brutal police beating because he was involved with the spouse of one of the officers or whether one or more of the five former Memphis Police officers were affiliated with the Vice Lords gang.
But the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office later told Newsweek that investigators are looking into the rumors about Nichols’ connection with Haley’s ex-wife.
“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.
The law enforcement source who spoke to The Star said Judge James Jones, who has been assigned to the case, will be the last to know about what is in the investigation.
“Judges are usually the last to know anything,” he said.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Demetrius Haley,” “Tadarrius Bean,” “Desmond Mills, Jr,” “Emmitt Martin III,” and “Justin Smith” by Memphis Police Department est.1827. Background Photo “Memphis Skyline” by Leonard23.
