George Floyd's GF Courteney Ross says he called her and his mother ‘Mama’, which he yelled while being arrested
George Floyd’s girlfriend Courteney Ross appeared in court to give her testimony on Thursday, April 1. Ross, who was dating the 46-year-old man before his May 25, 2020, death, said Floyd used to call her by the nickname “Mama”, which he reportedly yelled several times while Minneapolis police officers pinned him down to the ground.
Not just Ross, but Floyd also used the same term for his late mother to whom he was very close. His mother died in 2018. According to Ross, Floyd was left devastated after his mother’s demise. “He seemed kind of like a shell of himself, like he was broken. He seemed so sad. He didn’t have the same kind of bounce that he had,” she added.
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After the tragic death of Floyd, several political pundits speculated that he was remembering his mother in pain when Derek Chauvin allegedly kneeled on his neck for around nine minutes. But now the testimony of Ross has added a new angle, which means he might have called out for his mother, or Ross, or both.
Ross gave her testimony during the trial of Chauvin, who has been accused of killing Floyd. He is facing second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in relation to the Black man's death. However, according to The Associated Press, the officer in question, who has no criminal history, might end up just serving about 12 1/2 years whether he is convicted of second or third-degree murder.
Last year on May 25, tragedy unfolded as Minneapolis cops were informed about Floyd, who allegedly used counterfeit money at a convenience store. Soon after that Chauvin along with J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao arrived at the scene and took Floyd into custody. Viral videos taken at the scene showed Chauvin kneeling on the African American man’s neck for minutes as he struggled to breathe.
However, Chauvin’s lawyers have argued that Floyd did not die because of their client kneeling on him - his drug use played a major factor. Ross, who has two children, during her testimony said, “Both Floyd and I, our story is a classic story of how we both get addicted to opioids. ... We got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction many times.”
She mentioned an episode from March 2020 when she had to take 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. 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,” Ross stated, adding that later she was informed that Floyd had overdosed that night, and required hospitalization.