Minneapolis, MN -On Friday Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison, during his sentencing hearing, for the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.
He was found guilty on all three counts of the charges he faced by a jury on April 20, 2021.
He was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder after he was videotaped last summer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes which led to Chauvin eventually suffocating Mr. Floyd to death.
George Floyd’s family in multiple statements asked Judge Peter Cahill to give Chauvin the maximum sentence in the death of their loved one relaying that Mr. Floyd will never be there to witness the most precious moments of his daughter Gianna Floyd’s life as she grows up.
The prosecution made the case that police officers are given great power and with that comes great responsibility. They stated people put their trust in the police and that police are who citizens call when there are uncontrollable situations. The prosecution continued with Derek Chauvin abused his power and had the full intent of holding Mr. Floyd in the prone position with his knee implanted in his neck until they could dump him in the ambulance and declare Mr. Floyd was no longer their problem.
The prosecution also repainted the horrific image of Mr. Floyd sustaining multiple injuries to the side of his face while it was implanted in the pavement while trying to lift his entire body with it to simply breathe calling Chauvin’s and his other officer’s action nothing shy of inhumane treatment.
After listening to many final statements, which included Derek Chauvin himself and his mother, the judge returned to the courtroom, after taking a fifteen-minute break, with sentencing guidelines that gave Derek Chauvin 22.5 years in prison.
