MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A former Memphis police officer who plans to change his not guilty plea to federal civil rights violations in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols will become the first of five officers charged in the case to break ranks with his former colleagues.

A change of plea hearing has been scheduled for Thursday for Desmond Mills Jr., according to court documents and his lawyer.

Mills and four other former Memphis Police Department officers have been charged in federal court with using excessive force and conspiring to lie after they were caught on camera punching, kicking and hitting Nichols with a police baton on Jan. 7. Nichols died three days later in a hospital.

The five former officers — Mills, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin and Justin Smith — also have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in state court.

Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said he could not discuss details of the plea agreement, including which charges it pertains to. Ballin said Mills was changing his plea “to take responsibility for his actions.”

Mills also plans to enter a plea agreement in state court, but that would not take place until later, Ballin said.

U.S. District Judge Mark Norris has scheduled a May trial for the officers in the federal case. A trial has not been set in state court.

The fatal beating of Nichols, 29, was one of several violent encounters between police and Black people that sparked protests and renewed debate about police brutality and police reform in the U.S.

The five former officers also are Black. They were fired from the department after Nichols’ death.