Derek Chauvin is the focus of attention in headlines nowadays. The stomach-churning footage of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of a Minneapolis cop, as well as the comments of the unarmed Black man who screamed, “I can not breathe…”, causing haunt to many minds. Derek Chauvin’s trial is a new dark chapter of Black Lives Matter, and while witnesses speak, Chauvin waits for a verdict.
His existence is already a public spectacle, having been accused of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree, and a second-degree murder. Chauvin’s wife Kellie Chauvin, who participated in a Mrs. Minnesota beauty contest in 2018, stated her intention to divorce him only days after Floyd was brutally murdered. On April 20, 2021, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill delivered the judgment, which found the 45-year-old guilty on all charges and ordered him to be handcuffed.
Here’s a glance at where his fashion model ex-wife is now while the world waits to see how long he will be imprisoned.
Kellie Chauvin, who is she?
Kellie Chauvin became acquainted with Derek after an accidental meeting. She is a former radiologist and beauty queen born on October 21, 1974. Her family fled Laos when she was three years old. They escaped to Thailand in 1977, where they stayed in a refugee center.
Kellie’s memories of leaving everything behind and carrying just a few belongings on their backs still haunt her. She said once that she had quit consuming oatmeal because it reminded her of those terrible days at camp. Kellie utilized a boy’s jacket to stay warm since she had no winter clothing.
Three years after her family arrived at the camp, in a frigid October of 1980, the family ultimately relocated to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Many years later, she started formal schooling in kindergarten in 1984. Her classmates had a significantly greater grasp of the English language. Though other people there say that the country is free, still she did not feel like they were free, she remarked of those difficult days in camp. They did not know how to communicate in English. As they did not trust the world, her parents did not want them to leave home. They arrive in a strange new environment and have no idea what to anticipate; therefore, they are constantly kept indoors.
Taking first place in a beauty contest
Kellie was the first Hmong woman to win Mrs. Minnesota 2019 and became the first Hmong lady to claim the title. Kellie’s close buddy Sophia Xiong-Yang persuaded her to participate in USOA’s Mrs. Minnesota 2018 in January 2018. In an interview afterward, Kellie said, “I was better than what people made me out to be.”
Kellie, who is of Hmong origin and is from Laos, Vietnam, and Southern China, has spoken up about being harassed for her appearance as a youngster and being labeled ugly. She then worked as an interpreter at local hospitals to make her house a “safe haven” for women experiencing hardship.
Who was Kellie Chauvin’s first spouse?
After an arranged marriage, she married her first spouse Kujay Xiong at 17. He was a stranger to her. “As a Hmong woman, if you’re not married by 18 … then your parents think that nobody will marry you,” Kellie once remarked. Her first marriage did not work out, and she separated from her ex-husband after a decade of abuse.
Kellie’s first marriage resulted in the birth of two children. She relocated to Minnesota after her divorce from her ex-husband. After that, the mother of two chose to finish her studies and received an associate’s degree in radiography. She eventually secured an internship in Minneapolis at the emergency department of Hennepin County Medical Center, which turned into a full-time job after 13 years.
After leaving the hospital, she was employed as a salesperson with RE/MAX Results.
Kellie Chauvin was introduced to Derek Chauvin?
She caught Derek’s attention while working at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he had taken for a health check-up before his arrest. The interaction ignited romance, and the two quickly fell in love. The couple married in 2010. After being elected Mrs. Minnesota in 2018, Kellie drew up personal facts of their great relationship in a 2018 news article.
“Under that outfit, he is just a softie,” she told the St Paul Pioneer Press. She further continues that Derek is just a gentleman. He still opens the door for her at the entrance and puts her overcoat on. She had a roster of must-haves if she was ever to be in a relationship after her prior divorce, and he met them all.
In 2011, the two relocated to Florida, where they initially purchased a house in Windermere for around $200,000. Its market worth climbed to almost $249,000 in 2020. In 2017, the couple paid $260,000 for a property in Oakdale, Minnesota, which was subsequently evaluated and sold for about $279,000.
Reasons for their separation
Kellie Chauvin asked for a divorce from Derek on May 28, 3 days after Floyd’s terrible death. In legal court filings, she blamed their divorce due to their relationship’s irreversible collapse.
The petition claimed that the respondent was completely capable of supporting herself. Furthermore, she did not seek any type of monetary compensation due to the divorce. According to the court records, Kellie and her husband forfeited their rights to “temporary or permanent spousal maintenance” from each other.
Kellie also said that she just intends to go on with her life on her terms, which is why her last name changed. Kellie May Thao and Kellie May Xiong were her previous names. She did not mention what name she wanted to go by in the petition, but it stated: “She is requesting a name change exclusively because of her marital dissolution.” According to the divorce documents, Kellie Chauvin is “self-supporting” and “not in need of spousal maintenance,” even though she is now jobless.