MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Questions continue to arise about the death of 20-year-old Aboulaye Thiam, who died when officers opened fire on him Jan. 2 after he allegedly charged at them with a knife.
Now, more information comes out about the three officers involved: Brandon Jones, Carlos Donaldson and Timothy Hamilton. WREG had a chance to look over their files and found some questionable behaviors in their pasts.
Jones was with MPD the longest—since 2010. Five years into his service, he smashed the front door of a home where he thought his ex-girlfriend was staying, according to his files. Authorities charged him with felony vandalism. Though the witness declined to prosecute, he did serve a 20-day suspension. Police also said he abused his access to classified police materials to look up whether his ex-girlfriend had a suspended license.
Donaldson has been with MPD since 2017, and his tenure started off rocky.
Documents show Donaldson failed his nighttime firearms testing, and the instructor recommended he “be immediately removed from the basic recruit training program.” Instead, he was hired as police service technician the next day and later promoted to officer in August 2018.
Less than two years later, Donaldson was involved in a nighttime shooting incident that left one man, the 20-year-old Sheffield High graduate, dead.
