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Who is Demetrius Haley? Memphis cop accused in Tyre Nichols’ murder beat up an inmate 8 years ago

On May 16, 2015, Dmetrius Haley and his fellow officer David Dyson allegedly strip-searched and beat inmate Cordarlrius Sledge
UPDATED JAN 28, 2023
Demetrius Haley (L) has been accused of being one of the five cops who brutally beat Tyre Nichols (R) to death (Memphis Police Department/Go Fund Me)
Demetrius Haley (L) has been accused of being one of the five cops who brutally beat Tyre Nichols (R) to death (Memphis Police Department/Go Fund Me)

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE:  According to a man who filed the allegation in a 2016 complaint, one of the five former Memphis police officers charged in the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols took part in beating an inmate nearly eight years ago. In 2015, while serving a three-year sentence for aggravated assault, Cordarlrius Sledge was assaulted by two correctional officers for possessing an illegal smartphone.

Demetrius Haley, who according to the lawsuit was at the time employed by the Shelby County Corrections Department, was one of the officers Sledge identified in his complaint. The officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, and Justin Smith were fired after Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said, they violated department policies during the January 7 stop that led to Nichols' death. A review of available camera footage had found "no proof" of the reckless driving he was accused of by the officers during a Tennesse traffic stop. 

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Second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one act of official oppression, and one count of aggravated assault were all brought against the five former policemen. Two of the policemen, Mills and Smith, were released late on Thursday after posting a $250,000 bond. According to jail records, Haley, Martin, and Bean were still in custody on Thursday night. However, according to early Friday morning jail records, only Haley was still incarcerated.

Who is Demetrius Haley?

The 6'1'' tall Demetrius Haley has lived in Cordova apart from other parts of Tennessee, including Memphis. On May 16, 2015, Haley and his fellow Shelby County Division of Corrections officer David Dyson allegedly strip-searched and beat inmate Cordarlrius Sledge at the penal farm until Sledge blacked out under the supervision of Danny McClain, the Conan Daily reported. 

In Sledges' April 2016 complaint, Haley was one of two officers, under the supervision of a third, who came into his cellblock on May 16, 2015, to search Sledge, 34, the suit which was dismissed before even its merits were evaluated, CBC News reported. “When they came in to do one of their little random pop-in searches, they called me and two other guys to the shower area to be strip-searched,” Sledge said. “They requested for me to be searched first.”

Sledge then ran to get rid of his cell phone in his underwear when officers,  including Haley, started punching him. “They picked me up and slammed my head into the sink, and I blacked out,” he told the outlet. On March 2, 2018, Judge Thomas Anderson dismissed the lawsuit Sledge filed against him, Dyson, and McClain.

Haley was hired by the Memphis police department in 2020. According to a report in August 2021, his annual salary as a probationary police officer was $45,623.50, and the 29-year-old is unmarried.

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