Age, Biography, and Wiki
Derek Michael Chauvin, born in 1976, is an American former police officer. He gained international attention for his involvement in the tragic death of George Floyd in 2020. Chauvin's career as a police officer spanned nearly two decades, during which he faced multiple complaints and allegations of misconduct. His notoriety stems from the high-profile trial and conviction for Floyd's murder, leading to significant legal and financial consequences.
| Occupation | Criminals |
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| Date of Birth | 1976 (age 49) |
| Age | 49 Years |
| Birth Place | N/A |
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Height, Weight & Measurements
Information regarding Derek Chauvin's height, weight, and other physical measurements is not readily available in public sources.
On May 25, 2020, Floyd was arrested after a store clerk alleged that he made a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill. In the course of the arrest, Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for about nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street and calling out "I can't breathe". The murder set off a series of protests in Minneapolis, across the United States, and around the world, in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
On May 25, 2020, Chauvin was one of four officers involved in arresting George Floyd on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a market and was the field training officer for one of the other officers involved. Security camera footage from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting the arrest. The criminal complaint stated that, based on body camera footage, Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe while standing outside the police car, resisted getting in the car and fell down; he went to the ground face down. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street, Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. After Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck, Floyd repeatedly said "I can't breathe", "Mama", and "please". For part of the time, two other officers knelt on Floyd's back. During the final two minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse. Several bystanders took videos which were widely circulated and broadcast. Chauvin and the other officers involved were fired the day following the incident. While knee-to-neck restraints were allowed in Minnesota under certain circumstances, in the days that followed Chauvin's use of the technique was widely criticized by law enforcement experts as excessive. Public outrage over the incident and other issues of racial injustice led to mass protests in Minneapolis, the United States, and across the world.
Three months after initially entering a plea of not guilty to the federal charges, Chauvin requested a hearing to offer a revised plea. On December 15, 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charges of violating the rights of Floyd and to violating the rights of the 14-year-old boy in the 2017 incident. Chauvin admitted for the first time that he willfully violated Floyd's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, by continuously kneeling on Floyd's neck even though Floyd was handcuffed and not resisting at the time. Chauvin also admitted willfully violating Floyd's constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, including the right to be free from a police officer's deliberate indifference to Floyd's serious medical needs. Chauvin admitted that his knee had remained on Floyd's neck even after Floyd became unresponsive. In the plea, Chauvin also admitted violating the 14-year old's constitutional right to be free from the unreasonable force by a police officer stemming from a 2017 incident when he held the boy by the throat, hit him in the head with a flashlight, and knelt on the upper back of the boy who was prone, handcuffed, and not resisting.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Derek Chauvin was married to Kellie Chauvin, but the couple divorced. In the divorce settlement, Kellie received the majority of their assets, including the net profits from their Oakdale home, while Derek received $452,524.38 in nonmarital assets.
His mother was a housewife and his father was a certified public accountant. During his early years, Chauvin grew up in West Saint Paul. When he was seven, his parents divorced and were granted joint custody of him.
On October 29, 2006, Chauvin was one of a group of six officers who opened fire on Wayne Reyes, shooting 43 rounds in four seconds, killing him. Police reported that he had pulled out a shotgun when they stopped his vehicle, responding to a report that he had stabbed his girlfriend and a friend and fled in his truck. Reyes was a member of the Leech Lake Ojibwe Band. The officers were placed on administrative leave for one week; a grand jury in 2007 decided against charging any of the officers, determining that the police use of force in the case was justified.
On May 24, 2008, Chauvin was responding to a domestic violence call about 21-year-old Black man Ira Latrell Toles by the mother of his child. After Toles locked himself in a bathroom, Chauvin forced his way in and attempted to hit Toles's head with the butt of his gun. Police reports stated that Toles reached for an officer's gun and then Chauvin shot him twice in the stomach. Toles told The Daily Beast that he fought back in self-defense but was too disoriented to reach the gun.
On September 4, 2017, Chauvin was among officers responding to a complaint by the mother of two young children. Videos from the scene were said to show Chauvin hitting a 14-year-old Black boy in the head with a flashlight so hard he required stitches, then holding him down with his knee for nearly 17 minutes, ignoring the boy's complaints that he could not breathe. Trying to avoid prejudice in the Floyd trial, the judge prohibited the prosecutors from raising the matter.
On July 22, 2020, after he was charged with murder, Chauvin and his wife Kellie were separately charged in Washington County, Minnesota, with nine counts of felony tax evasion related to allegedly fraudulent state income tax returns from 2014 to 2019. Prosecutors said the couple had under-reported their joint income by $464,433, including more than $95,000 from Chauvin's security work. The complaint also alleges failure to pay proper sales tax on a $100,000 BMW purchased in Minnesota in 2018, failure to declare income from Chauvin's wife's business, and improper deductions for a rental home. Chauvin first appeared in Washington County District Court for his tax-evasion case (number 82-CR-20-2813) on September 8, 2021. The pre-trial hearing was scheduled for January 21, 2022. Chauvin pleaded guilty on March 17, 2023, and was sentenced to 13 months in prison, to run concurrently with his murder sentence with credit given for time already served.
Chauvin's ex-wife is a real-estate agent and photographer, a Hmong refugee from Laos, and the winner of the 2018 "Mrs. Minnesota" beauty pageant. She filed for divorce the day before Chauvin was arrested for Floyd's murder, and the divorce was finalized in February 2021.
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Net Worth and Salary
As of recent reports, Derek Chauvin's net worth is estimated at approximately $500,000. His primary income source was his salary as a police officer in the Minneapolis Police Department. However, his financial situation has been significantly impacted by legal fees and trial expenses following the George Floyd incident. Additionally, he faced financial penalties and settlements related to other allegations, including tax evasion and civil lawsuits.
In 2023, the City of Minneapolis agreed to pay almost $9 million to settle lawsuits brought against Chauvin by Zoya Code and John Pope Jr., Black residents who both claimed that Chauvin "pressed his knee into their necks" in 2017, the same tactic that killed Floyd in 2020. According to a Minneapolis City Council announcement, Code and Pope were expected to receive $1.4 and $7.5 million, respectively.
Career, Business, and Investments
Derek Chauvin's career was solely in law enforcement until his conviction. He did not engage in notable business ventures or investments outside his police work. His financial situation has been complicated by legal issues and public notoriety, affecting any potential additional income streams such as endorsements or speaking engagements.
Social Network
Derek Chauvin does not have an active social media presence due to his legal situation and public scrutiny.
Following a complaint that their charge never gained traction, in February 2021 the Star Tribune reported that the group pursued legal action and filed discrimination charges with the state Department of Human Rights. Their attorney said that his clients sued to hold Superintendent Steve Lydon and Ramsey County "responsible for the discrimination that occurred under their watch." The suit alleges the officers were informed that they would be reassigned because of Chauvin's arrival. One of the plaintiffs said that while he regularly processed and booked high-profile inmates, he was in the middle of patting down Chauvin when the superintendent told him to stop and replaced him with a White officer. The attorney for the group said that they felt "deeply humiliated and distressed" due to the discrimination they had experienced. The suit also says two other officers saw security camera footage that showed that a White female lieutenant "was granted special access" wherein she sat on Chauvin's bed and patted his back "while appearing to comfort him" and let Chauvin use a cellphone. In a statement provided to the Star Tribune by the sheriff's office, Lydon said he "was trying to 'protect and support' minority employees by shielding them from Chauvin".
While serving his concurrent state and federal sentences at the FCI Tucson prison, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times with a shank by another inmate while he and Chauvin were in the facility's law library at about 12:30 p.m. local time on November 24, 2023. Prison employees performed "life-saving" measures on Chauvin who suffered serious bodily injury and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Prior to the assault, Chauvin's lawyer had advocated for keeping him away from other inmates for his own protection. The stabbing attack on Chauvin was compared to the July 2023 prison assault on Larry Nassar and it raised further scrutiny of inmate safety in the federal prison system. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison denounced the attack, stating that Chauvin "was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence."
Federal prosecutors charged John Turscak, a 52-year old inmate, with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to charging documents, the suspect told FBI agents he attacked Chauvin because he was a high-profile inmate and as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement with the attack occurring on Black Friday and with other reference to the Mexican Mafia. The suspect was a former FBI informant and gang member who had been featured in a book about organized crime leader Rene Enriquez.
Education
Details about Derek Chauvin's educational background are not widely reported. However, typically, police officers undergo extensive training at the police academy and may have varying levels of college education.
In summary, Derek Chauvin's career and financial life have been drastically altered by his involvement in George Floyd's death and subsequent legal actions. His net worth and personal life reflect the significant consequences of these events.
In early 2021, Chauvin was put on trial for unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter and convicted on all of the charges. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. Appeals to the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States for review were denied.
Chauvin attended Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, but did not finish and later obtained a GED certificate in 1994. He earned a certificate in quantity food preparation at Dakota County Technical College and worked jobs as a prep cook at a McDonald's in Cottage Grove and later at a Tinucci's buffet restaurant in neighboring Newport. He served in the United States Army Reserve from 1996 to 2004, including two stints in the military police between 1996 and 2000 (first in Rochester, Minnesota, and later Hohenfels, Bavaria, in Germany). During that time, he also attended Inver Hills Community College from 1995 to 1999, and later transferred to Metropolitan State University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in law enforcement in 2006.
On May 28, 2020, state and federal prosecutors held a press conference at a regional FBI office in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, to make an announcement in the case against the officers at the scene of Floyd's murder. However, officials at the press conference said they needed more time to review the case. On June 9, it was revealed that state and federal prosecutors had discussed a plea deal with Chauvin and his attorney that would have included state murder charges and federal civil rights charges, but the deal fell apart when United States Attorney General William Barr rejected it. As part of the failed deal, Chauvin was expected to plead guilty to third-degree murder and agree to a ten-year prison sentence. As he would have gone to federal prison, the federal government was involved, but Barr worried that protesters might view the agreement as too lenient and opted for a full investigation.
Chauvin was arrested on May 29, 2020. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman charged him with third-degree murder, and the lesser included offense of second-degree manslaughter, making him the first White police officer in Minnesota to be charged in the death of a Black civilian. Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing another's death without intent to kill, but "evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life". Second-degree manslaughter also does not imply lethal intent, but that the perpetrator created "an unreasonable risk" of serious harm or death.
On May 31, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison took over the case at the request of Governor Tim Walz. On June 3, Ellison amended the charges against Chauvin to include unintentional second-degree murder under the felony murder doctrine, alleging that Chauvin killed Floyd in the course of committing assault in the third degree; Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommend 12 1/2 years' imprisonment on conviction of that charge. Bail for Chauvin was set at $1.25 million. Additionally, Ellison also charged the three other officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder with bail set at $1 million.
Chauvin was released on conditional bail on October 7, 2020, after posting a bond of $1 million. On October 22, 2020, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill dismissed the third-degree murder charge, but also denied Chauvin's motion to dismiss the other, more serious murder charges. On November 5, 2020, Judge Cahill ruled that Chauvin and all three of the others charged would be tried together in Hennepin County. However, on January 13, 2021, Judge Cahill reversed his earlier ruling, deciding that Chauvin would be tried separately from the other three officers. On March 11, 2021, Cahill reinstated the third-degree murder charge against Chauvin.
Chauvin's trial began on March 8, 2021, at the Hennepin County Government Center. It marked the first time that a judge in Minnesota authorized cameras to show a full criminal trial. On April 20, 2021, a jury, consisting of six White people and six people of color, found Chauvin guilty on three counts: unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was the first White Minnesotan police officer to be convicted of murdering a Black person. It was only the second time an officer has been convicted of murder in Minnesota, the first being the third-degree murder conviction of Somali-American officer Mohamed Noor in the killing of Justine Damond, a White woman. Following Chauvin's conviction Judge Cahill revoked Chauvin's bail and he was taken back into police custody.
Chauvin appealed his second-degree murder conviction and requested a public defender to represent him on appeal. The Minnesota Supreme Court denied Chauvin's request for a public defender, ruling that his financial state rendered him ineligible. Chauvin later hired attorney William Mohrman to represent him. In April 2022, Chauvin appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, asking the court to reverse his conviction and order a new trial, in a new venue, claiming that the jury of the case in the state had been "intimidated by excessive pre-trial publicity". Chauvin's lawyer further stated that the settlement reached between the city of Minneapolis and the Floyd family for $27 million during jury selection amounted to prejudice. In April 2023, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals issued a 50-page decision affirming the conviction. Chauvin asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to review the case, but was denied in July 2023.
State prosecutors sought a sentence of 30 years' imprisonment for Chauvin based on the extreme cruelty he exhibited when he murdered Floyd, which "shocked the conscience". Chauvin sought probation instead of incarceration. On June 25, 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison (with credit given for the 199 days he had already served) on the second-degree murder charge, while the second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder charges remain not adjudicated. The earliest Chauvin could be eligible for release on parole would be in 2035 or 2036, when he will be close to 60 years old. Under Chauvin's federal plea agreement, he will serve his state and federal sentences concurrently and be subject to five years of parole after release.
