Rekia Boyd was a 22-year-old black American woman who was fatally shot in Chicago, Illinois by Dante Servin, an off-duty Hispanic Chicago police detective, on March 21, 2012. ^{[1] [2]}

Killing

Servin, an off-duty police officer, drove his car to Douglass Park on the West Side of Chicago after calling the police to make a noise complaint. ^[3] He then approached a group of four individuals who had been partying in the park ^{[3] [4]} and had some form of verbal altercation with them. ^{[3] [4]} One of the victims, Antonio Cross, alleged that he believed Servin was looking for a drug dealer, to which Cross allegedly told Servin to get his "crackhead ass" out of there. ^[3]

Servin fired on the group, hitting Rekia Boyd in the head, and Antonio Cross in the hand. Initially, the Chicago police department claimed that Servin had discharged his weapon after Cross had approached him with a gun. ^[5] The Boyd family quickly responded that the object was in fact a cell phone. ^[6] No weapon was ever recovered from the scene. ^[4]

Aftermath

On April 5, 2012 Boyd’s family filed a lawsuit against Chicago. The lawsuit was settled in March 2013. In November 2013, Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, ^[7] His trial began in April 2015 but was cleared of all charges on April 20, 2015, by Judge Dennis J. Porter in a rare directed verdict. ^[8] Porter's reasoning was that since the shooting was intentional, Servin could not be charged with recklessness. "It is intentional and the crime, if any there be, is first-degree murder," said Porter in his ruling. ^[9] Following this ruling, Servin could not be charged with murder due to double jeopardy protections. ^[10]

Servin claimed he fired because someone in the group was holding a gun, but it was actually only a cellphone. ^[11] In November 2015, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy both suggested that Dante Servin should be fired by the Chicago Police Board. ^[12] The city paid $4.5 million to Boyd's family to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit. ^[13]

Servin resigned on May 17, 2016, two days before the departmental hearing which was to decide whether he should be fired. ^{[14] [15]}

In November 2019, Servin requested that the case be expunged from his record. The request was denied by a judge, as was a subsequent request to seal the case's records. ^[16]

Protests

The ruling sparked some public protest. ^[9] The Black Lives Matter movement has protested the deaths of black girls and women at the hands of police, including Boyd's. ^[17]

See also

• List of unarmed African Americans killed by law enforcement officers in the United States

References