Derek Chauvin Expected To Recover From Prison Stabbing: Report

TUCSON, AZ — The former Minneapolis police officer, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, is expected to recover from severe injuries he sustained in a stabbing by another inmate in Tucson, AZ, The New York Daily News reported Saturday.

Chauvin was hospitalized for "life-saving measures" after he was stabbed at around 12:30 p.m. on Friday at the 38-inmate minimum-security Federal Correction Institute, which has recently seen security lapses, The Associated Press reported.

Brian Evans, a spokesman for the Minnesota attorney general's office told the Daily News, "We have heard that he is expected to survive."

Chauvin, 47, was sent to the prison from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison last year to serve out a simultaneous 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, and a 22 ½-year state sentence for second-degree murder.

His attorney, Greg Erickson, told CNN he called the prison seven times, and prison officials have "refused to speak to me seven times."

Chauvin’s parents have also not been able to reach him, Erickson told the outlet, adding,“It’s unbelievably unprofessional that no one from the prison has reached out to his parents."

The stabbing comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction.

Floyd, who was Black, died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for over nine minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.”

His death touched off protests world-wide, some of which turned violent, and placed a spotlight on policing issues, the use of excessive force, and racism.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted Chauvin, told CNN he was sad to hear he was the target of violence,” adding, "He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.”

William Bornhoft and The Associated Press contributed reporting.