AKIPRESS.COM - Prosecutors on Wednesday leveled new criminal charges against four Minneapolis police officers implicated in the death of an unarmed black man who was pinned by his neck to the street during an arrest caught on video, sparking nine days of nationwide protest and civil turmoil, Reuters reports.  

Derek Chauvin, arrested Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, 46, was newly charged with an additional, more serious count of second-degree murder, according to court documents filed in the case.

The added charge, defined under Minnesota law as unintentionally causing another person’s death in the commission of a felony offense, can carry a sentence of up to 40 years, 15 years longer than the maximum sentence for third-degree murder. 

Chauvin, 44, was the white officer seen in widely circulated video footage kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd gasped for air and repeatedly groaned, “Please, I can’t breathe,” before growing motionless while bystanders shouted at police to let him up.

Floyd, whom police suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit bill to pay for cigarettes, was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after the fatal encounter on May 25.

Three fellow officers dismissed from the Minneapolis police department along with Chauvin the following day were charged on Wednesday for the first time in the case - each with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and with aiding and abetting manslaughter.

Those three - Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao - have also been taken into custody. Aiding and abetting second-degree murder carries the same maximum punishment as the underlying offense - 40 years in prison.