Derek Chauvin trial: George Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross says he was an addict, hospitalized for overdose
During Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin's trial on Thursday, George Floyd’s girlfriend, Courteney Ross, spoke many things about her deceased partner. Among them of key importance are his history of drug abuse and struggles with addiction. Her testimony comes as Derek Chauvin stands trial for second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
The 45-year-old testified about how she met Floyd, their life together, and their shared struggle with addiction and drug abuse. Chauvin’s attorneys argue that Floyd’s drug use was a crucial factor in his death.
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Addicted to opioids
Chauvin’s defense team has argued that drugs had played an important role in Floyd’s death. After Floyd's autopsy, the Hennepin County medical examiner reported that the deceased had potentially lethal levels of drugs in his system. A recently released never-before-heard audio clip also revealed that Chauvin said Floyd was "going crazy" when talking to his supervisor.
Ross admitted that both she and Floyd struggled with opioid addiction. She also added that based on the way he was behaving, she suspected Floyd had relapsed several months before his death in May.
"Both Floyd and I, our story is a classic story is of how we both get addicted to opioids," she said according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "We got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction many times."
Floyd was hospitalized twice
MEAWW earlier reported that Ross said that Floyd had purchased pills in March 2020 that she did not recognize. Due to the pills, she also said that Floyd has been hospitalized twice in the past.
During her testimony, Ross recalled this particular event in March when she rushed Floyd to the hospital after he complained of stomach pains. "I went to go pick Floyd up from his house that night. I thought I was taking him to work. He wasn’t feeling good. His stomach really hurt. He was doubled over in pain, just wasn’t feeling well, and he said he had to go to the hospital, so I took him straight to the hospital,” Ross recalled. “We went to the ER and they were checking him out in the ER and it was getting late and I had to get home to my son, so I left that Friday night.”
It was later that she made the discovery that Floyd had overdosed that night, and that was why he needed to be hospitalized. Although, she said that she did not know on what Floyd had overdosed. Defense attorney Eric Nelson asked her, "You later learned that was due to an overdose?"
"Yes," Ross said. "Did you learn what caused the overdose?" When Ross answered with a 'no', Nelson asked, "You did not know that he had taken heroin at that time?" To which, Ross responded that she did not.
According to the latest reports, Nelson asked Ross if the pills a certain Morries Hall, who was with Floyd outside Cup Foods on the night he was arrested and died. "I believe so, I'm not sure," said Ross. She added that the pills she got with her then-boyfriend in May reminded her of some she took in March — it had reportedly kept her up all night feeling jittery. She said that she believed they came from Hall, but was she was not sure, according to the Star-Tribune. Earlier, when talking to the FBI, Ross said that the pills left Floyd "bouncing around and unintelligible".