trial of three ex- officers accused of beating Ty Nichols to death begin tarius Bean Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to federal charges EMT Martin 3 and Desmond Mills Jr have already pleaded guilty the three former Memphis police officers are accused of beating Ty Nichols to death in January 2023 the trial began on Wednesday and the prosecution argued that the officers were punishing Nichols for fleeing a traffic stump