Girl, 10, who testified at Derek Chauvin’s trial says she is ‘proud’

The ten-year-old girl whose testimony at George Floyd‘s trial is being cited by prosecutors as a reason for why Chauvin should never leave prison said on Wednesday morning that she felt ‘kinda proud’ of her contribution to his conviction. 

Jedeah Reynolds was nine last May when she walked to the Cup Foods store in Minneapolis with her older cousin to buy snacks. She had pestered her to go. When they were there, Floyd was arrested and killed by Chauvin. The girl’s adult cousin filmed it and her footage led to Chauvin’s arrest and conviction. 

Jedeah was presented as a prosecution witness. She told the court that watching Chauvin crush Floyd’s neck made her ‘sad and kind of mad’. 

Now, prosecutors are citing her as one of the reasons the judge should ignore sentencing guidelines and come down harder on Chauvin than the law requires.  

Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter yesterday and is now in a maximum security prison awaiting sentencing. Minnesota State Law decrees that an offender will only be sentenced for the most serious offense if convicted of multiple felonies that stem from a single act. 

In this case, the most serious offense is second degree murder which carries a minimum of 12.5 years and a maximum of 40 years. Prosecutors have not been clear about how long they will ask the judge to put Chauvin away for but they have said they will ask him to consider aggravating factors like the trauma the killing had on Jedeah.  

On Wednesday, she appeared on Good Morning America with a chaperone to talk about the trial. Asked how she felt about the verdict, she answered shyly: ‘Kinda proud’. 

She also said she was watching the verdict come in from home, with her mother and father, who told her: ‘We won’ and ‘this will bring change.’ 

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Jedeah Reynolds was nine when she watched Floyd die in front of the Cup Foods store. She had gone with her cousin to get snacks. Her cousin filmed the killing and it was one of the videos that went viral and led to Chauvin’s arrest. Jedeah later testified about it. On Wednesday said she felt ‘kinda proud’ that she had taken part

Jedeah is shown arriving at the Cup Foods store in Minneapolis, minutes before Floyd’s death on May 25 last year. She had pestered her adult cousin to go to the store for snacks 

She says she is now writing a children’s book to ‘teach people to be brave’. It will be called Judeah’s Walk to the Store. 

In interviews across the major TV networks on Wednesday morning, Floyd’s brother Philonise said he always had faith in the jury but that he prayed for the 30 minutes between being told a verdict was coming and the jury re-entering the courtroom to read it. 

‘I prayed for 30 minutes. It took 30 minutes before the jury and judge even stepped out. I always had faith but for me to just sit there and pray and I hear “guilty” then some more numbers then “guilty again”. 

‘I said, “Lord, please let it be another” and I heard “guilty” again. I was excited. It was a pivotal moment for me, my family, the world,’ he said. 

He said he hoped the verdict was the ‘beginning of this nation figuring out that we can all live with each other’ and that he now hopes to push the George Floyd Policing Act through congress. 

Vice President Kamala Harris put pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill on Tuesday night. 

It overhauls the country’s policing rules by banning racial profiling, chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants. It would also create a national registry for officers found guilty of misconduct and get rid of the legal protections they have now that are known as qualified immunity.  

‘You have so many people with blood on that bill [George Floyd policing act]. 

‘Breonna Taylor, the no-knock warrant, she was killed – innocent, in her house. Eric Garner and my brother George – the no chokehold clause – that needs to be in effect. You have to have dash-cams and bodycams on all times. 

‘They’re speaking everything into existence now,’ he said.  

Floyd’s brother Philonise said on Wednesday he ‘always had faith’ the jury would do the right thing to achieve ‘justice for George’

Charles McMillan was among the people who watched Floyd die under Chauvin’s knee (left). He sobbed during the trial as he talked about how Floyd cried for his mother as he died 

McMillan said on Wednesday (pictured) that he knew Floyd was going to die and he was trying to comfort him 

Charles McMillan, another trial witness who broke down in sobs as he testified about how Floyd cried out for his mother while he choked, was on CBS. 

He told Gayle King that he became so emotional while giving his testimony because he too had lost his mother. 

He also recalled never leaving Floyd’s side as he choked, and trying to de-escalate the situation by talking to the police officers involved.

McMillan also said he knew Floyd was going to die. 

‘Once they’ve got the cuffs on you… you better have something good to say or nothing at all,’ he said.  

Chauvin is now being held in a maximum security prison on suicide watch. 

As he was led away in cuffs from the courtroom, he flashed his palm which had his lawyer’s phone number scribbled on it. 

Derek Chauvin, 45, spends his first night in maximum security prison and is placed on suicide watch after being found guilty on ALL three charges of murder and manslaughter in death of George Floyd

Derek Chauvin is waking up today in Minnesota’s maximum security prison where he has been placed on suicide watch after being found guilty on all three counts of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

Tuesday’s verdict triggered cheers outside the Minneapolis courthouse and massive celebrations across America while Joe Biden vowed to push through civil rights reforms after the killing he called a ‘stain on the nation’s soul.’

Within minutes Biden phoned Floyd’s family to tell them that his death, which had sparked a wave of global Black Lives Matter protests, was going to ‘change the world’.

The president was backed by other by senior Democrats, including Barack Obama who said ‘we know that true justice is about much more than a single verdict in a single trial.’

Chauvin looked around in seeming disbelief as the judge read the decision, which centered around footage of the nine minutes and 29 seconds that he had knelt on Floyd’s neck as the handcuffed, unarmed black man cried out: ‘I can’t breathe’ on May 25, 2020.

Derek Chauvin is pictured in court on Tuesday as the jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd

It took the jury just over ten hours of deliberation to find Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter based on a mountain of evidence and testimony presented over 15 days of trial in the Hennepin County court. Each charge required jurors to find that Chauvin’s actions were a ‘substantial causal factor’ in Floyd’s death and that his use of force was unreasonable.

Chauvin was led away in handcuffs as the judge immediately revoked his bail pending sentencing and dispatched him to Minnesota’s only maximum security prison, MCF-Oak Park Heights.

The 45-year-old faces a minimum sentence of 12.5 years and maximum of 40 years if he serves terms for each charge concurrently. If served consecutively, Chauvin faces between 29 and 75 years.

No prisoner has ever escaped from MCF-Oak Park Heights, which sits about 25 miles east of Minneapolis near the Wisconsin border and houses around 500 of the most high-risk inmates in the state.

Chauvin is being closely watched by guards to ensure his safety, not just as a suicide risk, but also from other inmates with violent criminal histories, many of whom resent law enforcement.

The former cop is expected to file a swift appeal of his conviction. Over the course of the trial his defense attorney Eric Nelson repeatedly raised concerns that the massive media attention to the case would bias the jury and prevent his client from receiving a fair trial.

Chauvin was led out of the court in handcuffs after the verdict came down on Tuesday afternoon. He had reportedly scribbled his lawyer’s phone number on the palm of his hand (right) before he was escorted out