MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police on Wednesday identified three officers who were relieved of duty after an officer-involved shooting that left a man hospitalized after a traffic stop.
Memphis police chased Martavious Banks, 25, inside a home on Gill in Whitehaven Sept. 17 and fired multiple shots at him while innocent residents ducked for cover and watched in shock.
MPD has said the officers turned off either their body cameras or dashboard cameras for all or part of the incident. Memphis police received the cameras after another officer-involved shooting in 2015.
The officers who have been relieved of duty pending the ongoing investigation are:
Officer Jamarcus Jeames (26) (Involved in the initial traffic stop and is the officer who fired shots)
Assignment: Airways Station
Hired: March of 2017
Christopher Nowell (27) (Involved in initial traffic stop and made the scene after shooting occurred)
Assignment: Airways Station
Hired: September of 2014
Michael R. Williams II (27) (Involved in the initial traffic stop and made the scene as the shooting occurred)
Assignment: Airways
Hired: August of 2015
Williams II is the son of Michael Williams, the president of the Memphis Police Association, who will not be involved in the investigation.
Williams II has been in trouble before for turning off his body camera, and had two crashes on his record, according to MPD records. According to those records, Williams II was involved in the arrest of a female driver during a traffic stop stop April 23, 2017. He turned his camera on, then turned it off before the incident was complete, the records state.
Jeames had a minor crash on his record and Nowell had a minor crash and a lost/damaged PDA.
A group of activists along with Banks’ mother, Janice Banks, marched to the Memphis Police Association headquarters Wednesday, accusing the police union and police department of covering up the investigation. They called for an FBI investigation.
Janice told WREG she recognized one of the officers from a previous encounter with her son.
“They need to just resign right now. They know that they’re at fault. They mayor, nor Rallings, should hold them up because it’s just going to grow, grow and grow. I want justice, and I want it all the way to Amy Weirich,” she said.
Protesters are now asking why MPA President Mike Williams was allowed on the scene the night of the shooting his son was involved in. We reached out to him, he says he wants to comment but he isn’t getting involved.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is currently handling the investigation.
Banks remains in intensive care, his mother said,