

Genevieve Hansen was at the scene during off duty and attempted to aid Floyd by giving him chest compressions while he laid unconscious, but the police officers did not allow it. Testimony of a uniformed firefighter at the scene “It was an adventure always, with him,” she stated. Memories of going to a sculpture garden with Floyd and eating out all the time because of his love for restaurants. In her testimony, she described their relationship and the intimate moments they shared.

This kindness felt like a ‘sweet’ relief according to Ross, due to the struggles she was going through during that time. Their first interaction occurred when Floyd asked whether she was upset and she gave her an honest answer, which led him asking ‘Can I pray with you?’. Together, they ‘tried hard to get rid of their addiction’, Ross clarified in her testimony. She even revealed that Floyd had an overdose in March, two months before his murder.

Ross admitted both she and Floyd became addicted to opioids after their prescriptions to ease the chronic body pains they suffered. She became the first of thirteen witnesses to detail Floyd’s life before the day he was killed ( USA Today ).įloyd and Ross met at the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center shelter for the homeless, when Ross visited her son’s father and Floyd worked there as a security guard. On Thursday 1st of April, George Floyd’s girlfriend of three years, Courtney Ross, gave character testimony. Eric Nelson, defense attorney, argued Williams was verbally aggressive towards the police after the murder. He even describes Thao as “the dictator” who controlled what happened from a distance. Williams reveals it was one of the police officers, now ex-officer Tou Thao, the one calling the shots. Williams claimed ‘the energy of the surroundings’ stopped him from going into the store as he had planned, he felt the “energy was off” ( NPR ). Because of his training, Williams was aware Chauvin was using a ‘blood choke’ on Floyd, which eventually killed him, even after Floyd had announced he couldn’t breathe and that he was sorry. Williams is a trained martial arts fighter who lives nearby Cup Foods, the store of the struggle that took Floyd’s life. Williams argues that Chauvin and colleagues were indeed responsible for Floyd’s death. “I felt the need to call the police on the police,” he explained during his testimony.

“I believed I witnessed a murder,” he said to the 911 operator. He made a call to 911 after the ambulance had already picked up Floyd’s body from the crime scene. On Tuesday, March 30, Donald Williams II gave eyewitness testimony of the altercation at court. However, many of the witnesses who gave testimony at court would argue otherwise. The defendant’s attorneys argue that Chauvin was not at fault for he was following his police training, and thus not guilty of the charges. In court, Chauvin is facing three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
CHAUVIN CHARACTER WITNESS TRIAL
The trial of Chauvin began this past Monday, March 29th. Only half a month ago, Floyd’s family reached a settlement of 27 million USD with the city of Minneapolis for the wrongful death of George Floyd. On May 25, 2020, police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, with a chokehold and was not stopped by either of his three fellow officers, making them complicit in the case. More details have been released to the public, including eyewitness and character witness testimonies, as well as new video footage of the day of Floyd’s death. Derek Chauvin’s trial for the murder of George Floyd has allowed several witnesses to narrate their accounts for the incident.
