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EXCLUSIVE: Friends of witnesses who took the stand to help convict Derek Chauvin have raised nearly $750k on their behalf for 'trauma healing' and to 'get their lives back on track'

  Crowdsourcing funds set up on behalf of witnesses at   Derek Chauvin 's murder trial have pulled in close to three quarters of a milli...

 Crowdsourcing funds set up on behalf of witnesses at Derek Chauvin's murder trial have pulled in close to three quarters of a million dollars in the weeks since the verdict was brought.

The trial was the first to be televised in Minnesota history with every moment livestreamed across the world earning several of the witnesses high profiles for the role they played in the historic proceedings.

And in its aftermath several GoFundMe pages have sprung up on its heels.


Donald Winn Williams II was one of the first witnesses to testify. The MMA fighter told how he stopped for a drink returning from a fishing trip with his son and became witness to 46-year-old Floyd's death beneath the former Minneapolis police officer's knee.

Williams called Chauvin out for using a 'blood' or 'kill' choke and told how the officer looked him straight in the eye and carried on. He said he watched Floyd, 'fade like a fish in a bag.'

Williams' GoFundMe page was set up by his cousin, Shannon Davis, on his behalf with the goal of helping him 'get his life back on track.'

MMA fighter Donald Winn Williams II was one of the first witnesses to testify in Derek Chauvin's murder trial. The MMA fighter told how he stopped for a drink returning from a fishing trip with his son and became witness to 46-year-old Floyd's death beneath the former Minneapolis police officer's knee

MMA fighter Donald Winn Williams II was one of the first witnesses to testify in Derek Chauvin's murder trial. The MMA fighter told how he stopped for a drink returning from a fishing trip with his son and became witness to 46-year-old Floyd's death beneath the former Minneapolis police officer's knee

Williams' GoFundMe page was set up by his cousin, Shannon Davis, on his behalf with the goal of helping him 'get his life back on track' The fund was established on April 4 and in weeks since its inception he has received $15,162 in donations. His stated target is $500,000

Williams' GoFundMe page was set up by his cousin, Shannon Davis, on his behalf with the goal of helping him 'get his life back on track' The fund was established on April 4 and in weeks since its inception he has received $15,162 in donations. His stated target is $500,000

MMA fighter says he told Chauvin he had Floyd in a 'blood choke'
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The Official Trauma Healing Fund for Donald Williams II features a picture of Williams wearing the Northside Boxing Club hoodie that he was wearing on March 25, 2020 and a courtroom sketch of him weeping during testimony.

Williams established the fund on April 4 and in weeks since its inception he has received $15,162 in donations. His stated target is $500,000. 

Darnella Frazier was the 17-year-old who stopped and filmed events on her cell-phone in the now infamous 'bystander video' posted to social media

Darnella Frazier was the 17-year-old who stopped and filmed events on her cell-phone in the now infamous 'bystander video' posted to social media

Williams updated the page seven days ago with a note of thanks 'to everyone for their kind words and generosity.'

He described the fund as, 'a big steppingstone,' in moving forward with his life.

According to the note written by his cousin, 'Now is the time to help uplift [Donald] and his needs. He is an amazing father, son, brother, and cousin. He has been dramatically changed by this incident.'

The note goes one, 'The system is dramatically broken and there needs to be changes in the way we as black people are seen in the world. There are people saying he didn't do enough but we all seen [sic] he did do a tremendous amount of work to try and save Mr. Floyd.'

Davis writes that Williams would like to be a 'mentor, coach, strong advocate for the community he comes from,' and that he would like to start a community center for young African American boys.

Guilt for not doing more to stop Chauvin was a common theme expressed by eyewitnesses who took the stand.

A fund set up by strangers, Mica Cole Kamenski and Angela Shelby on Darnella's behalf now stands at a staggering $688,950 with a fundraising goal of $1million

A fund set up by strangers, Mica Cole Kamenski and Angela Shelby on Darnella's behalf now stands at a staggering $688,950 with a fundraising goal of $1million

Police body camera shows bystanders including Alyssa Funari, left filming, Charles McMillan, center left in light colored shorts, Christopher Martin center in gray, Donald Williams, center in black, Genevieve Hansen, fourth from right filming, Darnella Frazier, third from right filming

Police body camera shows bystanders including Alyssa Funari, left filming, Charles McMillan, center left in light colored shorts, Christopher Martin center in gray, Donald Williams, center in black, Genevieve Hansen, fourth from right filming, Darnella Frazier, third from right filming

Darnella Frazier was the 17-yeard-old who stopped and filmed events on her cell-phone in the now infamous 'bystander video' posted to social media and seen around the world.

She told the court that she apologized to Floyd every night for not doing more, for not stepping in to stop what was happening and how she saw her father, her brother, her cousin in the dying man.

She did not appear on camera, nor was she fully named in court but Frazier herself gave interviews in the aftermath and a fund set up by strangers, Mica Cole Kamenski and Angela Shelby on her behalf now stands at a staggering $688,950 with a fundraising goal of $1million.

'The OFFICIAL Peace and Healing for Darnella Fund' also features a courtroom sketch of Darnella, weeping.

It states that Darnella should be 'uplifted, not shamed.'

Kamenski writes, 'White folks: You woke now? Stay woke. You mad? Stay mad. You care about Black Lives. Well, we finna [sic) care about Darnella, too.'

She continues, 'You can't put a price on a child's spirit. This fund is to support the healing and the restoration of hope for Darnella Frazier – whatever that means to her.'

Speaking to DailyMail.com Frazier's mother, LaTangie Gillespie, 38, confirmed that the fund set up in her daughter's name is verified.

Gillespie declined to discuss any plans for the money or say whether her daughter had received any of the fund proceeds so far.

She told DailyMail.com, 'We just want to breathe as a family right now. We've been through so much.'

Sixty-one-year-old Charles McMillians nicknamed 'the Mayor' of the community, by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell broke down and wept in the witness box as he recounted the events of May 25, 2020

Sixty-one-year-old Charles McMillians nicknamed 'the Mayor' of the community, by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell broke down and wept in the witness box as he recounted the events of May 25, 2020

His son has set up a fund entitled, 'Help Charles McMillian visit his Mothers Burial,' with the stated goal of raising $5,000 to help him travel with his 12-year-old son to his mother's grave in Mississippi and to get therapy. The fund has already outstripped his target sum and now stands at $9,025

His son has set up a fund entitled, 'Help Charles McMillian visit his Mothers Burial,' with the stated goal of raising $5,000 to help him travel with his 12-year-old son to his mother's grave in Mississippi and to get therapy. The fund has already outstripped his target sum and now stands at $9,025

Witness breaks down on day three of Chauvin trial
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Sixty-one-year-old Charles McMillians nicknamed 'the Mayor' of the community, by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell broke down and wept in the witness box as he recounted the events of May 25, 2020.

McMillians can be heard and seen on various video footage from that day, urging Floyd to just get in the car. He told the court that he was trying to 'make it go easier' for Floyd. He said he had stopped to watch the scene outside Cup Foods as it unfolded because he was 'being nosey.'

He walked alongside Floyd across the road as officers J Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane took him from his own car to their squad car and he remained there, trying to counsel Floyd as events slid towards their desperate outcome.

His son has set up a fund entitled, 'Help Charles McMillian visit his Mothers Burial,' with the stated goal of raising $5,000 to help him travel with his 12-year-old son to his mother's grave in Mississippi and to get therapy.

The fund has already outstripped his target sum and now stands at $9,025.

A FundRazr fund set up for her has now raised $20,892 of its $25,000 goal

A FundRazr fund set up for her has now raised $20,892 of its $25,000 goal

Judeah Reynolds was nine when she witnessed Floyd's death. Now ten, she testified off camera in court and told how what she saw had left her 'sad and mad.'

A FundRazr fund set up for her has now raised $20,892 of its $25,000 goal.

The blurb on the page notes that Reynolds 'isn't old enough to watch a PG-13 rated movie, but she watched a real-life murder that was more chilling and senseless than anything Hollywood could invent, a scene that took longer than any scene in a Hollywood movie would allow.'

Judeah Reynolds was nine when she witnessed Floyd's death. Now ten, she testified off camera in court and told how what she saw had left her 'sad and mad'

Judeah Reynolds was nine when she witnessed Floyd's death. Now ten, she testified off camera in court and told how what she saw had left her 'sad and mad'

It continues, 'Judeah Reynolds matters! Her journey matters, her story matters, her future matters. HER BLACK LIFE MATTERS!' and describes her as being, 'in the crossroads and the crossfire of history,' and in need of 'stability.'

Both she and her cousin, Frazier, who took her to Cup Foods to buy snacks that day will, the page reads 'be scarred and changed forever,' because of what they witnessed.

It goes onto state, 'Judeah is brave, and she wants to tell her story in a book so others can be brave too when they experience tis (sic) hurt and pain.'

The fund is intended to provide 'urgent aid in securing safe housing and essential and basic needs for the family.'

Cup Food's store clerk Christopher Martin quit his job after Floyd's death. He was the 19-year-old clerk who accepted the fake $20 bill then ultimately told his manager, setting in motion a chain of events he could not possibly have anticipated or controlled.

He told of his guilt and his wish that he had just refused to take the money as he had earlier refused to take a fake bill offered by Floyd's companion that day, Morries Lester Hall, 42.

Martin accepted the bill from Floyd because, unlike Hall, he didn't think he knew it was fake.

A fund set up calling to 'Commend Christopher Martin for his bravery,' has now raise $12,673 of its stated $20,000 goal. Set up by a woman who describes herself as 'a mother herself,' it states, 'No child and young adult should have to go through the stress and tragedy that Christopher Martin endured.'

The fund founder states that the money 'is to commend his bravery and for him to spend in any way he would like.'

She continues, 'I have spoken to Christopher on the phone, and he said he would like to use some of the money to help the local community. Please help Christopher pay it forward.'

Cup Food's store clerk Christopher Martin quit his job after Floyd's death. He was the 19-year-old clerk who accepted the fake $20 bill then ultimately told his manager, setting in motion a chain of events he could not possibly have anticipated or controlled

Cup Food's store clerk Christopher Martin quit his job after Floyd's death. He was the 19-year-old clerk who accepted the fake $20 bill then ultimately told his manager, setting in motion a chain of events he could not possibly have anticipated or controlled

A fund set up calling to 'Commend Christopher Martin for his bravery,' has now raise $12, 673 of its stated $20,000 goal. Set up by a woman who describes herself as 'a mother herself,' it states, 'No child and young adult should have to go through the stress and tragedy that Christopher Martin endured'

A fund set up calling to 'Commend Christopher Martin for his bravery,' has now raise $12, 673 of its stated $20,000 goal. Set up by a woman who describes herself as 'a mother herself,' it states, 'No child and young adult should have to go through the stress and tragedy that Christopher Martin endured'

A fund has also been set up for Hall – the man whose fake $20 bill Martin rejected when he came into the store earlier that same day and the man whose call asking Floyd for a ride brought the older man there that day.

Nobody saw Hall testify because though he was in the car with Floyd and Floyd's friend and ex Shawanda Hill, he pleaded the Fifth for fear of self-incrimination in a possible third-degree murder investigation.

Hall worried that if the jury did not find Chauvin guilty it might open the possibility for an investigation into whether Floyd, who had been taking drugs that day and ingested some in the moments of his arrest, had died of a drug overdose.

Under Minnesota law a person involved in supplying drugs in any way that a person takes and then dies because of is liable for a third-degree murder charge. 

Hall was in prison on other outstanding warrants when he appeared before Judge Peter Cahill and the jury were never told of his existence as a potential witness.

His mother, Reece Tank Hall, has started the fund for her son claiming, 'A moment that has weight heavy on our entire nation, weighed most-heavy (sic) on Maurice Lester Hall. Often times it is the survivors of tragedies that are the unintended victims.'

Derek Chauvin is pictured in court after his attorney unsuccessfully lobbied for a mistrial and before he was found guilty of murder

Derek Chauvin is pictured in court after his attorney unsuccessfully lobbied for a mistrial and before he was found guilty of murder 

Chauvin was convicted on three charges in connection with George Floyd's death on May 25: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter
Floyd is pictured in an undated file photo

Chauvin was convicted on three charges in connection with George Floyd's death on May 25: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter

Chauvin listens as the judge reads guilty verdict in Floyd trial
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She continues, 'BIG FLOYD' was more than a story on the news, more than a tipping point, more than a political statement to Maurice, he was a dear friend.'

According to Hall the incident affected her son's mental health 'in ways he struggles to navigate months after,' and the fund is in part to help him get the therapy he needs.

She writes, 'Maurice has a long road ahead of him, and he will need the support of the entire community to overcome the unimaginable obstacles he's currently facing. While he is under the car of doctors, he is unable to work, allowing legal and medical bills to pile up as his mother, am asking for financial assistance to help with the cost of his medical fees.'

The fund has raised just $712 of its stated goal of $30,000.

Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter after 13 days of testimony and ten and a half hours of jury deliberations.

Prosecutors have asked for an upward departure on presumptive sentences on these charges, the most serious of which, in Minnesota, stands at 12years 8 months with a range of 10 to 15 years.

Judge Cahill will hear the so-called Blakely motion brought by the state to argue aggravating circumstances including the fact that the crime was committed in front of minors and that Floyd was subject to 'particular cruelty' by three or more people.

The maximum sentence he could receive when sentenced on June 16 is 40 years but, speaking earlier this week, Attorney General Keith Ellsion said, 'I think it's important for the court to not go light or heavy.

'I don't know if it's right for a judge to send a message through a sentence because the sentence should be tailored to the offense.

Speaking to CBS's 60 Minutes, Ellison said that he 'felt a little bad' for Chauvin as a human being though he believed whole-heartedly in his conviction.

He said, 'The state never wanted revenge against Derek Chauvn. We just wanted accountability.'

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