Tyre Nichols 'suffered extensive bleeding', lawyers say after seeing early autopsy results

Preliminary findings of an independent autopsy of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols showed he "suffered extensive bleeding" after what police described as a "confrontation" following a traffic stop by Memphis police officers, civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said Tuesday.

The details about "extensive bleeding" come a day after family, activists, and the attorneys held a press conference to discuss what they saw on video of the incident. Crump said Monday the video "reminded us of the Rodney King video...But unlike Rodney King, Tyre didn't survive."

Although a full autopsy report was not released, Crump and Romanucci said more details would be disclosed at a later date.

"We can state that preliminary findings indicate Tyre suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating, and that his observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on the video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7, 2023," Crump and Romanucci said in a joint statement.

Romanucci said Nichols was "kicked" and was the subject of "multiple uses of force" during the "unadulterated...beating of [Nichols] for three minutes."

Nichols was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition Jan. 7 after a traffic stop was initiated by officers from the Memphis Police Department. After two "confrontations," as MPD said in a statement Jan. 8, Nichols "complained of a shortness of breath."

The five officers involved in the stop were placed on administrative leave immediately following the incident and were fired Friday, following a hearing. The department cited multiple department policy violations, including those on use of force, failure to render aid and their duty to intervene.

Two Memphis firefighters were also "relieved of duty" pending an internal investigation into their actions after the traffic stop, a fire department spokeswoman said.

Footage from the incident was viewed Monday by the family and their attorneys and is slated for public release in the coming weeks, MPD said in a statement Monday.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Early Tyre Nichols autopsy showed 'extensive bleeding', lawyers say