June 3, 2020 — The Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has taken over the George Floyd murder case. The charge against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, has been raised to second-degree unintentional murder. The maximum sentence for second-degree murder in Minnesota is no more than 40 years. The other three (now former) officers — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng — are being charged with aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, a felony offense, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. They face the same sentences as Chauvin.
Should the continuing investigation find evidence supporting it, charges could be upgraded yet again to first-degree murder.