Tyre Nichols: Family remembers 'a beautiful soul'
Image source, Getty Images
The family of Tyre Nichols, a black man whose death following a traffic stop in Tennessee has placed a fresh spotlight on police brutality in the United States, describes him as a "beautiful soul" with a passion for skateboarding, sunsets and photography.
"Nobody's perfect, but he was damn near," his mother RowVaughn Wells said at a press conference flanked by family members and supporters.
A visibly grieving Ms Wells broke into a rare smile as she described her son - who worked for FedEx and had a four-year-old son - having a tattoo of her name on his arm.
"That made me proud," she said.
Mr Nichols, 29, loved to skateboard, a passion he'd had since he was six years old, and his favourite activity was to head to the local park to skate.
His stepfather, Rodney Wells, said he had recently joked to his stepson that he was too old to skateboard.
"You've got to put that skateboard down. You've got a full-time job now," he remembered saying. "He looked at me like 'Yeah right' because that was his passion."
He also had a passion for photography and sunsets, and his mother said that each night he would go to nearby Shelby Farms Park, on the eastern outskirts of Memphis, to watch the sunset and take pictures.
Mr Nichols died days after he was stopped by police on 7 January. Five now-fired police officers - who like Mr Nichols are all black - are facing murder charges.
Bodycam footage of the encounter is expected to be published on Friday, and lawyers for his family have said it will show him being severely beaten.
Ms Wells spoke of the grief the family has been experiencing since Mr Nichols' death.
"All I know is my son Tyre is not here with me anymore. He will not walk through that door again," she said.
"He will never come in and say 'Hello parents', because that's what he would do. I'll never hear that again," said Ms Wells, adding that she would work tirelessly for justice because "no son deserves this".
Mr Nichols' stepfather described his stepson as "a good kid" who was the baby of the family - he had two older brothers and one older sister.
"I was Tyres' stepfather, but you can take the 'step' out of it because that was my son," Mr Wells said of the pair's relationship. They also worked together at FedEx, where Mr Nichols had worked for the past nine months.
Mr Wells said he had watched the police incident video, describing it as "horrific" and which "no father, mother should have to witness".
He said the family would do everything they could to seek justice, but said anyone holding protests in Mr Nichols' name should do so peacefully, and should not conduct damage or looting.
"That's not what Tyre wanted and that's not going to bring him back," he said.
Related Topics
