Derek Smith, the paramedic, said that he had first felt Mr. Floyd’s neck for a pulse while police officers were still on top of him and that he could not find one.
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Paramedic tells court George Floyd was deceased when he arrived on scene
Derek Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter. By AFP Friday 2 Apr 2021, 9:03 AM 1 hour ago 7,532 Views 0 Comments
Witness Derek Smith answers questions
Image: AP/PA Images
Image: AP/PA Images
A PARAMEDIC HAS testified that George Floyd was already dead when he arrived at the scene and Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is being tried for murder, still had his knee on the neck of the 46-year-old Black man.
“When I showed up he was deceased and I dropped him off at the hospital and he was still in cardiac arrest,” paramedic Derek Smith said on the fourth day of Chauvin’s trial on murder and manslaughter charges.
“Correct,” replied Ploeger, now retired.
Chauvin, 45 and white, is accused of killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.
His death triggered large protests around the U.S., scattered violence and widespread soul-searching over racism and police brutality. The most serious charge against Chauvin carries up to 40 years in prison.
Thursday’s testimony began with Floyd’s girlfriend tearfully telling the jury how they met in 2017 at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with “this great, deep Southern voice, raspy” and how they both struggled with an addiction to painkillers.