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George Floyd's Brother Philonise Said His Family Was Given A Life Sentence

George Floyd's brother Philonise, shown here in May, delivered a victim impact statement in court on Friday.
Patrick Semansky
/
AP
George Floyd's brother Philonise, shown here in May, delivered a victim impact statement in court on Friday.

Through tears, Philonise Floyd told the court during his victim impact statement that he started having nightmares and losing sleep after his brother George's murder last year.

"For an entire year, I had to relive George being tortured to death every hour of the day, only taking naps and not knowing what a good night's sleep is anymore," he said.

Philonise Floyd, who asked the judge to impose the maximum prison penalty on former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, said his family would be affected for the rest of their lives by the death of his brother.

"My family and I have been given a life sentence. We will never be able to get George back."

George's 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, would be especially hurt by the loss, Philonise said.

"Daddies are a daughter's first love. He will never be able to walk Gianna down the aisle at her wedding, attend those magical moments of her life like a daddy-daughter dance, Sweet 16 party. Seeing her out for proms, graduations," he said. "She will never be able to have any personal memories with her father."

Philonise Floyd also recounted how he went from being a "trucker" to speaking at the United Nations and in various countries around the world on his brother's behalf.

"I've been lifting my voice tirelessly every day so that George's death would not be in vain."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Joe Hernandez
[Copyright 2024 NPR]

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.