George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter still doesn’t know how her dad died
George Floyd’s 6-year-old daughter has only been told that her dad died “because he couldn’t breathe,” as her mother tries to protect her from the truth that has sparked national outrage.
Mom Roxie Washington told “Good Morning America” Wednesday that Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, misses her dad but is not aware that he died in an encounter with Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, when viral footage shows him pinned by a cop’s knee while pleading for air.
“She said, ‘I hear them. I hear them say my daddy’s name,'” Washington told Eva Pilgrim on “GMA.” “And I told her, she doesn’t know, I told her that her dad died because he couldn’t breathe.”
She said Floyd adored his little girl, and had moved to Minneapolis to help provide her a better life.
One video played during Wednesday’s interview shows Gianna on the shoulders of her father’s friend, former NBA star Stephen Jackson, saying, “Daddy changed the world.”
“Kind of I miss him,” Gianna said on “GMA.” “He played with me.”
“She didn’t have to play with nobody else,” Washington said. “Because Daddy was gonna play with her all day long. I mean, that was his baby. He loved his little girl.”
Washington recalled learning of Floyd’s death on television after getting a call about the incident and turning on the TV.
“I watched it only for a moment because I was like, ‘I can’t believe,'” she sobbed. “I couldn’t believe that somebody was doing him like that. I wish I could’ve been there to help him.”
“My heart is broke for my baby,” Washington said. “It’s broke.”
At one point during the interview, Gianna announced: “I know what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a doctor. I want to take care of people.”