Steve Mulroy speaks: the Shelby County District Attorney speaks on Tyre Nichols, the MPD, and his hopes for the future

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The men charged in Tyre Nichols’ death are not expected to return to a Shelby County courtroom until May.

But the case continues to garner national attention, among other cases in Shelby County.

We’re sharing more from the county’s lead prosecutor on the cases timeline and his position on other high-profile crimes in Shelby County.

It’s been a busy seven months for District Attorney Steve Mulroy.

From the Eliza Fletcher kidnapping and murder to the Ezekiel Kelly shooting spree, and now the death of two black men in police custody.

The Department of Justice recently announced its upcoming review of the Memphis Police Department, and DA Mulroy says he welcomes that development.

“Some of these specialized units sometimes result in a hyper aggressive type of enforcement that’s counterproductive as we saw in the Tyre Nichols case with the Scorpion Unit,” DA Steve Mulroy said. “Having an outside perspective is absolutely essential.”

DA Mulroy also shared how his stance on the delayed release of additional body camera video, showing events leading to the death of Tyre Nichols.

He says the delay is a temporary freeze, so the judge has time to review everything.

“Our position is that the video, the rest of the video, should be released,” he said. “With respect to the other documents, I think that’s a case-by-case study. But it is our hope that the majority of the material can be released relatively soon.

Another high-profile case , the death of Gershawn Freeman who was seen beaten on camera, while in custody at the Shelby County jail.

Attorney Mulroy recused himself from the handling the case.

“I just thought an independent prosecutor would be better for the appearance of fairness and objectify,” DA Mulroy said. “I have every confidence in DA Glenn Funk out of Nashville. He’ll do the right thing. But since he’s handling it now, it was his decision to release the video.”

Despite not trying the case, DA Mulroy says he hopes that case leads to broader conversations about conditions at 201 Poplar.

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