Tou Thao, 36, and J. Alexander Kueng, 28, are each charged in Minnesota with two counts of accessory to murder and second degree manslaughter. They were among three officers who watched their white colleague, Derek Chauvin, kill Floyd, a black man, by pinning his neck to the ground with one knee for nine minutes in May 2020.
Both officers declined an offer to plead guilty to the lesser charge of accessory to second-degree manslaughter. The settlement mirrored an agreement accepted by former officer Thomas Lane, according to Hennepin County District Court spokesman Matt Lehman.
Their deal included a three-year prison sentence, which could be served concurrently with previous federal sentences.
“The state is ready for trial,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement.
A representative for Thao could not be reached for comment. A lawyer for Kueng declined to comment on the case.
Thao and Kueng’s state trials will take place before Judge Peter Cahill of the Hennepin County District Court on October 24. The trial will take place about eight months after a federal jury found Thao, Kueng and Lane guilty of depriving Floyd of his civil rights and failing to come to his aid when he was choking.
In July, US District Judge Paul Magnuson handed Kueng and Thao prison terms of 3 and 3-1/2 years, respectively, for the federal convictions. Lane was sentenced to 2-1/2 years.
Chauvin, who pleaded guilty to his federal charges, was sentenced to 21 years. He will serve that sentence concurrently with a 22-1/2 year sentence he received in a 2021 state murder trial.
In murder captured on cellphone video, Floyd’s death has sparked protests against police brutality and racism in many cities across the United States and around the world.