The mother of George Floyd's six-year-old daughter has called for justice after the 46-year-old was killed during a police arrest in Minneapolis.
Roxie Washington, who shares daughter Gianna with Mr Floyd, remembered him as a "good man" who moved to Minneapolis to try to better provide for her and their daughter.
"He will never see her grow up, graduate, he will never walk her down the aisle," Ms Washington said through tears on Tuesday afternoon.
Roxie Washington and Gianna Floyd were joined by former NBA Player Stephen Jackson. Source: Getty Images North America
"If there’s a problem she’s having and she needs her daddy, she does not have that anymore."
Mr Floyd's death has rocked the US, with eight consecutive nights of nationwide protests.
Commentators have described the civil unrest as the largest demonstrations since 1968, when civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated.
Ms Washington said she decided to speak out because justice needed to be served.
The officer who held his knee on Mr Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter.
The other three officers involved in the arrest have been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department, but no legal action has been taken against them.
Mr Floyd's family has repeatedly called for all four officers to be prosecuted.
Supporters visit a memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis, established on the spot where the 46-year-old lost his life. Source: AP
"I want everyone to know that this is what those officers took from her - at the end of the day, they get to go home and be with their families, but Gianna does not have a father," Ms Washington said.
"I want justice for him because he was good - no matter what anybody thinks - he was good, and this is the proof that he was a good man."
While most protests have been peaceful, some demonstrations have been hijacked by rioters and looters, leaving widespread damage across major US cities.
Mr Floyd's brother Terrence on Monday urged the protesters to speak out peacefully, saying his brother would never have wanted violence in his name.
"If I'm not over here wilding out, if I'm not over here blowing stuff up, if I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are you all doing?" he told the protesters.
Terrence Floyd knelt to pray at the spot where his brother died one week earlier. Source: Getty Images North America
"My family is a peaceful family, my family is god-fearing. Let's do this another way. Let's stop thinking that our voice doesn't matter and vote."
