Mother of George Floyd's Daughter Speaks Out After His Death: 'He Will Never Walk Her Down the Aisle'

Roxie Washington, the mother of George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter, is speaking out after he was killed while in police custody last week.

Washington mourned that Gianna "Gigi" Floyd will now have to grow up without a father during a press conference Tuesday in Minneapolis. She was accompanied by Stephen Jackson and Atlanta-based attorneys Justin Miller and Chris Stewart.

"I don't have a lot to say, because I can't get my words together right now," Washington said tearfully from the podium. "But I want everybody to know that this is what those officers took. At the end of the day, they get to go home and be with their families."

"Gianna does not have a father," she continued. "He will never see her grow up, graduate, he will never walk her down the aisle."

"If there's a problem she's having and she needs her dad, she does not have that anymore," Washington said, crying. "I'm here for my baby, and I'm here for George. Because I want justice for him. I want justice for him 'cause he was good. No matter what anybody thinks, he was good."

"And this is the proof that he was a good man," Washington said, gesturing to Gianna.

"It really don't make no sense," Jackson, who was close friends with Floyd, said, taking the podium from Washington and promising her that he will be there for her and Gianna. "I'm going to be there for her. I'm going to wipe your tears."

Miller said elsewhere during the press conference that Washington was speaking out to "show the world that George Floyd is not just a name, not just a meme and not just something to be chanted."

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"George Floyd was a real person," he said. "He was a good person, and he had people that loved him. And so we're here today to show the world these are the people that loved him."

Washington added later in the press conference that Floyd was a "good man" and father.

"He was so happy to have her," she said, gesturing to Gianna by her side once again. "He was there — he slept the whole time that I went through labor, but when he heard her cry, he got up. He woke up."

"I still have a picture of him waking up and getting his baby," she said. "He loved her so much."

Jackson added that Floyd's priority was taking care of and providing for his family, which was why he sought work in Minneapolis.

"He was a gentle giant," Washington previously told Houston's Chron.com last Tuesday at a prayer vigil for Floyd in Texas. "People mistake him because he was so big that they thought he was always a fighting person but he was a loving person ... and he loved his daughter."

Floyd died on May 25 after being pinned down by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who placed a knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes and captured on video keeping it there despite Floyd's repeated cries of "I can't breathe."

On Monday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner officially ruled Floyd's death a homicide, and that the 46-year-old "experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)."

While all four officers present were fired from their jobs, Chauvin is the only one to have been charged so far. He was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday.

Floyd's family is calling for a first-degree murder charge, and protests have erupted across the globe over the unarmed man's unjust death.

To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:

• Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
• ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities.
• National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help black youth succeed in college and beyond.