March 30, 2021

Young Witnesses Give Heartbreaking Testimony at Derek Chauvin’s Murder Trial

“When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, I look at my cousins…”

A memorial for George Floyd near the site of his deathAlex Segura/EFE/Zuma

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Darnella Frazier was 17 when she recorded a video of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he died, prompting international outrage and providing a key piece of evidence in Chauvin’s murder trial.

Frazier, now 18, delivered powerful testimony at Chauvin’s trial on Tuesday about how witnessing Floyd’s death has affected her life. “When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, I look at my cousins, my uncles, because they are all Black,” Frazier said. “I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them.”

Frazier was too young to be shown on court camera, but her voice cracked as she said, “It’s been nights I’ve stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”

Referring to Chauvin, who has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, she said, “It’s like, it’s not what I should have done. It’s what he should have done.”

After Frazier’s testimony, her 9-year-old cousin, who was with her on the day of Floyd’s death, took the stand. Asked by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell how she felt seeing a police officer kneeling on Floyd, the girl, also too young to be shown on video, replied, “I was sad and kinda mad…It felt like he was stopping his breathing, and it was kind of like hurting him.”

 

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