NEW YORK - Friday marks six years since the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police on Staten Island.

Garner died in 2014 during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. The incident was captured on cell phone video. 

Garner could be heard eleven times telling officers, “I can’t breathe” before he died. Public outrage over Garner’s death had little impact on police reform at the time.

However, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25th of this year resulted in worldwide protests - and a number of recent NYPD reforms, including severe punishments for officers who use illegal chokeholds. 

Floyd died after also saying "I can't breathe" as he struggled for air with a Minneapolis police officer's knee in his neck.  

“I truly believe, even though Eric Garner should be with us today, he did not die in vain. From the moment we lost him efforts have changed and reform has progressed and they progress today deeper and deeper, and that work will never stop. So we feel the pain and we feel the loss and I've spent a lot of time with the Garner family and I know how much pain they still feel," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Former NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who used the banned chokehold on Garner, was fired last August. It was more than five years after his death.

Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, remains irate that none of the officers involved in her son's death have been criminally charged. Carr is committed to being a voice for change in the fight against police brutality.

“America you killed my son so I want you to pay for that, so I want you to pay for that, I want to get something back and what I want back is justice, and this is a form of justice. My son he didn't get any justice, he died, but we have other sons, we have other grandsons, we have the unborn that we have to look out for," Carr said.

An event commemorating the anniversary of Garner’s death will be held at 6 p.m. Friday in Tompkinsville Park on Staten Island.