10-Year-Old Who Testified In Derek Chauvin Trial Reacts to Guilty Verdict

Like so many of us across the country, Judeah Reynolds was glued to her TV screen Tuesday afternoon anxiously awaiting a verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

The 10-year-old was there the day George Floyd was killed outside Cup Foods last May. She watched as the 46-year-old father lay pinned to the ground, struggling for air and crying out, “I can't breathe.”

Judeah, who suffered horrific nightmares after witnessing the murder, testified to the trauma of seeing Floyd struggle in Chauvin’s murder trial. When he was found guilty on all counts—including unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter—Judeah says she felt “proud” of the role she helped play in the fight for justice.

“My mom said that we brought change. My dad said we won,” Judeah told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America today. “[I felt] proud.”

Like the other minors who testified in Chauvin’s trial, Judeah was not shown on camera—however she did speak about her experience with the Chicago Tribune in July 2020. According to the article, Judeah was headed to Cup Foods with her 17-year-old cousin Darnella Frazier, who has since been hailed as a hero for filming Floyd’s death, to buy Jolly Ranchers and Starbursts. Judeah had $3 in her pocket for candy.

“I was sad and kind of mad,” Judeah Reynolds told The New York Times about seeing Floyd pinned to the ground by Chauvin. “It felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of like hurting him.”

Just a few days after Floyd's death, Judeah returned to the corner store where people were laying flowers and painting murals in Floyd's honor. Judeah reportedly painted her own sign that day that read: “It can be better.”

“She’s been a history-changer,” LaToya Turk, Judeah’s family friend and advocate, told Robin Roberts on GMA. “Her persistence about asking to go to the store that day has changed policing in America.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, Judeah is slated to tell her story in a children’s book titled, “A Walk to the Store” for Beaver’s Pond press in Minnesota. It is set to publish sometime this year.

“I’m powerful,” Judeah told the newspaper. “I can’t be afraid.”

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