“I want justice for him because he was good, no matter what anybody thinks,” Roxie Washington told reporters at a press conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
“He was good and this is the proof that he was a good man,” she added, pointing at their daughter Gianna.
Washington said Floyd had moved from Texas to Minneapolis looking for a better life. Even from afar, she said, Floyd was supportive of their daughter and would always talk about taking care of her.
When Washington first learned about Floyd’s passing, she told CNN that she didn’t know how to tell Gianna.
But soon Gianna asked why people on TV kept saying her dad’s name. Then, she wanted to know how Floyd had died.
“The only thing I could tell her is he couldn’t breathe,” Washington told CNN.
She lamented that their daughter will miss Floyd through her life achievements.
“He would never see her grow up, graduate … he would never walk her down the aisle,” Washington said. “If there’s a problem that she’s having, she doesn’t have her dad anymore.”
The attorneys representing Washington said they want the world to have another image of Floyd besides the video of his altercation with police.
“We wanted the world to see the beauty of Gianna,” attorney L. Chris Stewart said.
Since Floyd’s death, protests have erupted across the country and around the world as many call for an end to police brutality.
Steward said Americans want law enforcement officers to be held accountable immediately.
“If they didn’t do it, if they’re not guilty, the system will free them,” the attorney told CNN.
“It’s accountability, a cop hurts somebody, he gets arrested not just fired,” Steward added.
A massive crowd led by Floyd’s sister and other family members marched or rode horses through the city of Houston on Tuesday.
Thousands of people gathered at Discovery Green park in downtown and knelt in silence to honor him before shouting Floyd’s name on their way to City Hall.
Next week, a public memorial for Floyd will be held in Houston.
CNN’s Julia Jones contributed to this report.
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