Philonise Floyd, younger brother of George Floyd, remembered his late brother as a “leader of the household” and a “momma’s boy” who “just knew how to make people feel better” during his testimony on Day 11 of the Derek Chauvin trial.
Tearing up at times as he reminisced about growing up with George, Philonise Floyd said members of his community all loved him. “People would attend church just because he was there,” Floyd testified. “He just was like a person that everybody loved around the community. He just knew how to make people feel better.”
Floyd said that his brother was very passionate about sports, particularly football and basketball, and would teach Philonise how to play.
He also said George and their mother had a close, “one-of-a-kind” relationship and that her death in May 2018 was difficult for George. “When we went to the funeral, George just sat there at the casket over and over again. He would just say, ‘Momma, momma’ over and over again. And I didn’t know what to tell him because I was in pain too. We all were hurting. He was just kissing her and just kissing her,” Floyd said. “He didn’t want to leave the casket.”
“Being around him, he showed us how to treat our mom and how to respect our mom,” Floyd said. “He loved her so dearly.”
Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who choked George Floyd with his knee, is on trial for Floyd’s. He has pleaded not guilty.