Courteney Ross, who was dating George Floyd for nearly three years before his death in May 2020, delivered emotional testimony on Thursday. She added that he was a kind, caring, athletic man, who struggled with opioid addiction.
Courteney Batya Ross, 45, said she met Floyd in August 2017 when he worked as a security guard at the Salvation Army. She also said they liked exploring the local sculpture garden and eating out on their dates together.
Ms. Ross is the first person to testify who personally knew George Floyd.
Ross said both she and George struggled with an addiction to opioids.
“Our story, it’s a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. We both suffered from chronic pain. Mine was in my neck and his was in his back,”
Ross, who has two children, also said that Floyd had referred to her and his own mother, who died in 2018, by the same nickname: “Mama.” Floyd had called out for “Mama” as Chauvin knelt on his neck moments before his death on May 25.
Floyd was a “mama’s boy,” Ross said and had been devastated when his mother died.
“He seemed kind of like a shell of himself, like he was broken,” she said. “He seemed so sad. He didn’t have the same kind of bounce that he had.”
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In May of 2020, Ross gave a televised interview with WCCO:
‘He Was Kind, He Was Helpful’: Friends, Family Say George Floyd Was A Gentle Giant
WCCO, Ross said, “You can’t fight fire with fire. You know? Everything just burns. I’ve seen it all day today. People hate. They’re hating. They’re hating, they’re hating. They’re mad and he would not want that. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t. He would give grace. He would! I stand on that. Today he would still give grace to those people.”
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