The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Chauvin faced three counts: second-degree murder — unintentional; third-degree murder; and second-degree manslaughter. He was convicted on all counts.
The 12 jurors, sequestered since Monday following closing arguments, include four Black people, two people who identify as multiracial and six white people. Two alternates — both of them white women — did not participate in the deliberations.
Floyd's death on Memorial Day 2020 sparked protests in Minneapolis, across the United States and around the world. It prompted calls for police reform and soul-searching on issues of racial injustice.
It was one of the most closely watched cases in recent memory, setting off a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism even before the trial commenced.
Floyd was a 46-year-old Black man from Houston who had moved to Minnesota just three years earlier. He was a father and brother who idolized his mother, loved making music and had been a star athlete as a young man.
Floyd died after Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as Floyd lay facedown, hands cuffed behind his back.