Derek Chauvin Trial 4/7/21: Forensic scientist found George Floyd's blood, pills with his DNA in squad car

A forensic scientist testified in the trial of Derek Chauvin Wednesday that she found George Floyd's blood and pills with Floyd's DNA in the squad car where Floyd struggled with officers. Chauvin, who was seen in disturbing videos kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

McKenzie Anderson, a crime scene team leader with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, testified that she photographed but didn't collect the pills when she first processed the squad car in May 2020. She also found two pills in the car Floyd was driving when she processed it at the same time. She said she re-processed the squad car at the request of the defense team in January 2021 and collected and tested the pills found in the back seat, confirming they contained Floyd's saliva. Brehana Giles, a chemist with the Minnesota state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, then took the stand. She said her testing found that the pills in the squad car contained methamphetamine and potential other substances she could not identify. Prosecutors then called Susan Neith, a forensic chemist based in Pennsylvania who also tested the pills. Neith testified she was able to identify fentanyl as well as methamphetamine in the pills found in the squad car, but she said the methamphetamine level was much lower than typical street meth.