Derek Chauvin, 44, who had been working with the Minneapolis Police Department for 19 years, was charged on Wednesday, June 3 with second-degree murder for the death of George Floyd.
Chauvin was arrested last week after he kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for almost 9 minutes until Floyd lost consciousness on May 25. He was then fired from the police department and first charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on May 27. Chauvin is now being kept at the Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park, which is the highest custody level in the Minnesota DOC system.
George Floyd and Derek Chauvin worked in the same local nightclub El Nuevo Rodeo. The owner of El Nuevo Rodeo said they both had Tuesday night shifts, while she did not know if they knew each other.
Kellie Chauvin, 45, separated from Derek Chauvin On May 28. Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce on Saturday, May 30, and requested to change her last name and the titles to both of their homes which locate in Oakdale, Minnesota, and Windermere, Florida. Kellie Chauvin is currently unemployed. She didn’t request for spousal maintenance and also waived her right to receive temporary or permanent spousal maintenance.
Chauvin grew up in the St. Paul area. He attended Park High School in Cottage Grove but did not graduate and studied at Dakota County Technical College, Inver Hills Community College, and Metropolitan State University, according to StarTribune. He used to work in McDonald’s and began as a military police officer with the U.S. Army from September 1996 to February 1997 and from September 1999 to May 2000. According to the records, he was hired by the Minneapolis Police Department as a part-time community service officer in January 2001.
During his career, Chauvin was involved in several incidents as he and other officers used fatal force. In 2006, he and the other five officers shot and killed a suspect who reportedly drew a shotgun on officers. Two years later, Chauvin responded to a domestic abuse call and shot the suspect Ira Latrell Toles twice in the stomach after he fought back in self-defense. Chauvin was put on paid administrative leave before he returned to work. In 2011, Chauvin was placed on leave again during the investigation after other officers chased and shot Leroy Martinez, a Native American man who ran from the shooting scene with a pistol.
Chauvin was also the subject of at least 17 complaints filed against him over two decades, including the incident of pulling a woman out of her car and putting her in the squad car after she drove 10 miles over the speed limit.
According to Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), a non-profit organization that aims to provide supports for survivors of police brutality and families of victims, Chauvin has received an oral reprimand for using “demeaning tone,” and “derogatory language” during the time working in the Minneapolis Police Department.
