Heart Disease, Drugs Not "Direct Causes" Of George Floyd's Death: Doctor

Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner for Minnesota's Hennepin County, told the jury that Floyd's cause of death was "restraint and neck compression" while being subdued by police.

George Floyd had heart disease and had consumed drugs but they were not the "direct causes" of his death, the doctor who conducted the autopsy said Friday at the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin. Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner for Minnesota's Hennepin County, told the jury that Floyd's cause of death was "restraint and neck compression" while being subdued by police. Chauvin is facing murder and manslaughter charges for his role in Floyd's May 25, 2020 death, which occurred during his arrest for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill. The 45-year-old Chauvin, who is white, was seen in a video taken by a bystander kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as the handcuffed 46-year-old Black man complained repeatedly that he "can't breathe."