Judeah Reynolds.Photo: GMA/Twitter
Judeah Reynolds, now 10, was with her cousin, then 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, when they happened upon Chauvin sitting atop Floyd, who was facedown on the pavement in handcuffs with Chauvin’s knee pressed against his neck. The killing occurred outside the Cup Foods store in Minneapolis, where the girls had gone to fetch snacks.
Frazier thenfilmed the incidenton her phone, as Chauvin held his position for about nine minutes while Floyd grew unconscious and died, creating a visual record that served as the centerpiece of Chauvin’s prosecution and helped ignite global protests over police brutality.
The girl said she felt “kind of proud.”
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell highlighted both the video and Judeah’s words in his closing argument. “Ultimately, it isn’t really that complicated,” he told jurors. “You can believe your eyes.”
He added: “What it is you have to decide is so simple that a child could understand it. In fact, a child did understand it when the 9-year-old girl said, ‘Get off of him.’ That’s how simple it was. ‘Get off of him.’ Common sense.”
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After less than a full day of deliberations, jurors found Chauvin, who was fired after his actions, guilty of all charges against him: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He will be sentenced in two months.
Listen below to the episode ofour daily podcast PEOPLE Every Dayfor more on Derek Chauvin’s conviction.
Judeah said she is now writing a children’s book about her experience, titledJudeah’s Walk to the Store, with the hope it will encourage others to “be brave and bring change into their story.”
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In anInstagram postafter the verdict, Frazier, now 18, wrote: “I just cried so hard. This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU”
“George Floyd we did it!!,” she added. “Justice has been served”
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source: people.com
