Rekia Boyd was a 22-year-old black American woman who was fatally shot in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

by Dante Servin, an off-duty Hispanic

Chicago police The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind th ...

detective, on March 21, 2012.

Killing

Servin, an off-duty police officer, drove his car to

Douglass Park Douglass Park is a part of the Chicago Park District on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1869 and initially named South Park,Graf, John, ''Chicago's Parks'' Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 11., . its are in the North Lawndale ...

on the

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of Chicago after calling the police to make a noise complaint. He then approached a group of four individuals who had been partying in the park and had some form of verbal altercation with them. One of the victims, Antonio Cross, alleged that he believed Servin was looking for a

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by ...

, to which Cross allegedly told Servin to get his "crackhead ass" out of there. 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. The Boyd family quickly responded that the object was in fact a cell phone. No weapon was ever recovered from the scene.

Aftermath

In November 2013, Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but was cleared of all charges on April 20, 2015, by Judge Dennis J. Porter in a rare

directed verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales, ...

. 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. Following this ruling, Servin could not be charged with murder due to

double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

protections. Servin claimed he fired because someone in the group was holding a gun, but it was actually only a cellphone. In November 2015, Chicago Mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

and police superintendent

Garry McCarthy Garry Francis McCarthy (born May 4, 1959) is the interim Chief of Police in Willow Springs, Illinois and previous Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. He was a candidate for Mayor of Chicago in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election. Ear ...

both suggested that Dante Servin should be fired by the Chicago Police Board. The city paid $4.5 million to Boyd's family to

settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

a wrongful-death lawsuit. Servin resigned on May 17, 2016, two days before the departmental hearing which was to decide whether he should be fired. 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.

Protests

The ruling sparked some public protest. The

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement has protested the deaths of black girls and women at the hands of police, including Boyd's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Rekia 2012 deaths 2012 in Illinois 2010s in Chicago Deaths by firearm in Illinois History of Chicago African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Protests in the United States Black Lives Matter March 2012 events in the United States Victims of police brutality in the United States Law enforcement controversies in the United States