The third degree murder charge against the police officer involved in the death of George Floyd has been dropped by a Hennepin County judge on Thursday.
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is still charged with unintentional second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
ABC 7 reports, “Under the state’s sentencing guidelines, a conviction on unintentional second-degree murder carries a presumptive sentence of 12.5 years. But a judge can order a sentence ranging up to 15 years without departing from the guidelines. For second-degree manslaughter, the guidelines call for four years in prison, or a discretionary range up to 4.75 years.”
Judge Peter A. Cahill denied a motion to drop the charges against the three other former officers at the scene, Â J. Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao. They are each charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter.
All four of the former officers are scheduled to go to trial in March.
Floyd had a fatal amount of fentanyl in his system when he died.
