by - Tire Nichols’ mother’s home is just blocks away from where Memphis police beat her son.
- Five officers have been charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death.
- Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells said she felt a pain in her stomach that she believes was her son’s.
MEMPHIS, Tenn — Every Saturday night RowVaughn Wells cooked dinner for her husband and son. They wanted to eat together.
But on the evening of January 7, the Memphis mother had a strange pain in her stomach and didn’t know why.
It wasn’t until hours later that she learned the pain coincided with something she now believes her son Tire experienced just a few blocks away.
Tyre Nichols, 29, yelled for his mother three times as five police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith – punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed him on the street not far away. from his mother’s home.
The officers are all charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death.
Wells stood at the pulpit of Mt. Olive Cathedral CME Church on Friday morning, telling reporters that no one will ever understand how it feels to know that she was so close to where her son was badly beaten but never heard his cries for help.
RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, cries as she is comforted by Tyre’s stepfather Rodney Wells.
Gerald Herbert/AP Photo
“I told someone I had a really bad stomach ache earlier, not knowing what had happened,” Wells said. “But when I found out what happened, it was my son’s pain that I felt, and I didn’t even know.”
At the church, RowVaughn Wells and her husband Rodney pleaded for peace in the city – knowing that the body camera footage of the attack would be released hours later.
City officials had already warned residents about the brutality of the video, and the police chief said it would depict “acts that defy humanity.”
The video shows Nichols screaming for his mother as two officers kick and punch him while he is on the ground.
“For me to find out my son was calling my name and I was just feet away and I didn’t even hear him; you have no idea how I’m feeling right now,” Wells said Friday.
