Before a former Memphis Police officer joined in a deadly beating on Tyre Nichols, prompting murder charges against him and four colleagues, Demetrius Haley incurred some policy violations in a prior prison guard job and faced accusations of excessive force that his department deemed unfounded or unsubstantiated, according to newly unsealed personnel records.
Demetrius Haley worked for the prison operated by the Shelby County Division of Corrections as a correctional officer from January 2015 until July 2020, when he resigned to join the Memphis Police Department.
While working as a corrections officer, Haley was accused of excessive force for using a chemical spray on inmate Cordarlrius Sledge in 2015, but an investigation found no violations of the department’s use of force policies and the allegations were unsubstantiated. The records showed that Sledge was treated for a fractured right temporal bone and perforated ear drum and the incident prompted 34 inmates — the entire cellblock — to sign a letter to the corrections director asking for a response to the alleged abuse.
