Memphis police chief Cerelyn Davis fired from a previous job

The chief of police in Memphis in charge of the five officers who fatally beat and tasered motorist Tyre Nichols was fired from a previous law enforcement job after a botched probe.

Cerelyn “CJ” Davis became the first female police chief in Memphis’ history in 2021 and is currently in the international spotlight after five cops brutally beat Tyre Nichols.

She was fired from the Atlanta police department in 2008 for her alleged involvement in a sex crimes investigation into the husband of an Atlanta police sergeant, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Two detectives accused Davis of telling them not to investigate Terrill Marion Crane, who was married to sergeant Tonya Crane after the police department obtained photos of him with underage girls.

A federal grand jury later indicted Terrill Crane on child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography in 2009, the newspaper reported.

Read more of the Post’s coverage of Tyre Nichols’ beating death

The indictment was issued after Atlanta police took no action in the case and a subsequent investigation by the city pointed to Davis as the reason. Davis was demoted from major to lieutenant before being hired from the force that she had joined in 2008.