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Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The five former Memphis police officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols pleaded not guilty in court Friday. The officers -- Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Emmit Martin III, Demetrius Haley and Desmond Mills Jr. -- entered their pleas in court on Friday and are set for their next appearance on May 1.
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They were all charged with second-degree murder. They are also charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, official oppression and two counts of official misconduct.
All of the officers were out on bond as of Friday.
The MPD Scorpion Unit officers were seen in a publicly released video viciously beating Nichols following a traffic stop.
Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy's office is reviewing cases from MPD's Scorpion Unit as people continue to emerge with stories of alleged abuse from this now-disbanded unit in the wake of the Nichols killing.
The attorney for Tyre Nichols' family, Ben Crump, held a press conference with Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, Friday.
"It's important that we move swiftly towards justice, so we don't want there to be any unnecessary delays in prosecuting this case," Crump said.
"I want each and every one of those police officers to look me in the face. They did not do that today," said Wells.
Two Tennessee state representatives - G.A. Hardaway and Joe Towns - will also hold a press conference with local leaders at the Memphis NAACP branch office at 2 p.m. to make an announcement regarding an investigation into the MPD's conduct.
Two Memphis area sheriff's deputies who were at the scene of Nichols' police beating are under investigation and have been temporarily relieved of duty.
Three Memphis Fire Department EMT's were also fired for failing to render medical aid to Nichols at the scene.
