Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd.
Judge Peter Cahill handed down the sentence of 270 months plus 150 months Friday after four heartbreaking victim impact statements, including from Floyd's seven-year-old daughter Gianna Floyd, his nephew Brandon Williams, and brothers Terrence Floyd and Philonise Floyd.
Chauvin spoke briefly at his sentencing Friday to offer the Floyd family his condolences.
Chauvin said he could not give a full statement because of additional legal matters, but said, 'There's going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest. And I hope things will give you some peace of mind. Thank you.'
This came after George Floyd's seven-year-old daughter Gianna gave a heartbreaking victim impact statement. 'I ask about him all the time,' Gianna Floyd said via video. 'I was asking how did my dad get hurt. I want to play with him.'
'I miss him and I love home,' she said.
Three other members of Floyd's family, including his nephew Brandon Williams and brothers Terrence Floyd and Philonise Floyd, gave poignant victim impact statements in the courtroom Friday.
'Immediately my life changed forever,' Philonise said while wiping away tears. 'For an entire year I had to relive George being murdered.'
'I've been lifting my voice so that George's life is not in vain. George's life mattered,' Philonise said.
Floyd's brother Terrence tearfully gave his statement directed at Chauvin. 'I want to know why. What were you thinking? What was gong through your head when you held your knee on my brother's neck?'
His nephew Brandon Williams said in his statement, 'Chauvin killed George. Not only did he kill George but he also displayed a total lack of consideration for human life as he did so.'
'Our family is forever broken,' Williams said.
His family asked the judge to deliver the maximum sentence to Chauvin, without the possibility of parole.
The former Minneapolis police officer, dressed in a gray suit and tie, with a buzz cut, was found guilty in April on all three counts - second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter - for kneeling on 46-year-old Floyd's neck for nine minutes in May 2020.
Floyd's death sparked months of national protests over mistreatment of black Americans by police and a cultural reckoning by many. At the time of his conviction, cheers rose from the crowds that had gathered outside the courthouse and down at the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis, now known as George Floyd Square.
Derek Chauvin spoke briefly at his sentencing Friday to offer the Floyd family his condolences. Derek Chauvin, 45, is pictured at his sentencing dressed in a gray suit with a matching tie and buzz cut
Before sentencing, four victim impact statements were read, including from Floyd's seven-year-old daughter Gianna Floyd, who appeared via video
'Immediately my life changed forever,' George's Philonise Floyd said while wiping away tears. 'For an entire year I had to relive George being murdered'
Floyd's brother Terrence (left) tearfully gave his statement directed at Chauvin. 'I want to know why? What were you thinking? What was gong through your head when you held your knee on my brother's neck?' His nephew Brandon Williams (right) said in his statement, 'Chauvin killed George. Not only did he kill George but he also displayed a total lack of consideration for human life as he did so'
Chauvin was captured on video kneeling on the neck of the 46-year-old Floyd (pictured) - suspected of using a counterfeit bill - for more than nine minutes until he passed out and died on May 25, 2020, while ignoring the victim's pleas for air and help
Chauvin's mother Carolyn Pawlenty made a surprise appearance at Friday's sentencing.
'The public will never know the loving and caring man he is but his family does,' Pawlenty told the court through tears. 'Though I haven't spoken publicly I have always supported him 100% and always will.'
Chauvin's mother Carolyn Pawlenty made a surprise appearance at Friday's sentencing
Pawlenty said Chauvin is her 'favorite son' and spoke of his innocence.
'Derek has played over and over in his head the events of that day. I've seen the toll it has taken on him. I believe a lengthy sentence will not do him well. When you sentence my son you'll also be sentencing me.
She then directed her statement to her son.
'My happiest moment is when I gave birth to you and my second is when I was honored to pin your police badge on you. I remember you whispering to me, ''don't stick me with it.'' Derek, I want you to know I have always believed in your innocence.
'I will be here for you when you come home.'
Just hours before the sentencing, Judge Cahill denied the defense's motion for a new trial and said he will not hold a hearing into jury misconduct.
The defense had asked for probation and sought a retrial ahead of an expected appeal. Chauvin's lawyer has argued that he was deprived of a fair trial because of prosecutorial and jury misconduct and errors of law at trial.
Chauvin's legal team is likely to take their arguments to the Court of Appeals.
Dozens of witnesses were heard and hundreds of items of evidence were submitted during the weeks of testimony.
The April verdict, in a relatively swift, across-the-board victory for Floyd's supporters - set off jubilation mixed with sorrow across the city and around the nation. Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Minneapolis, some running through traffic with banners. Drivers blared their horns in celebration.
Chauvin had been captured on video kneeling on the neck of the 46-year-old Floyd - suspected of using a counterfeit bill - for more than nine minutes until he passed out and died on May 25, 2020, while ignoring the victim's pleas for air and help.
'Today, we are able to breathe again,' Floyd's younger brother Philonise said at a joyous family news conference in April where tears streamed down his face as he likened Floyd to the 1955 Mississippi lynching victim Emmett Till, except that this time there were cameras around to show the world what happened.
The jury of six whites and six black or multiracial people came back with its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days.
'The public will never know the loving and caring man he is but his family does,' Pawlenty told the court through tears. 'Though I haven't spoken publicly I have always supported him 100% and always will'
Rev. Al Sharpton, right, with hand on coat, along with family members of George Floyd leads a prayer before entering the Hennepin County Government Center for the sentencing
Chauvin was being held at Oak Park Heights the last eight weeks as he awaited sentencing. The prison, the state's only maximum-security facility, built in 1982 and with a capacity for 473 male inmates, could be where Chauvin serves his sentence
This photo shows a cell in the Administrative Control Unit at the Oak Park Heights facility. This cell is similar to the one that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been in since he was found guilty in April
Prosecutors earlier this month asked Judge Cahill to sentence Chauvin to 30 years in prison, submitting court documents which called the actions of the cop an 'egregious abuse' of
