Shooting of Rekia Boyd

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

Shooting

While off-duty, detective Servin called 911 at 11:49 pm to report a loud party in Douglas Park. Later, he approached a group of four people who were walking down an alley and remonstrated with them for talking too loudly. At no point did he identify himself as a police officer. The group turned to leave and Servin fired multiple shots from a 9mm semiautomatic firearm from his car, over his shoulder, into them. One bullet hit Boyd's friend, Antonio Cross, in the hand; another hit Boyd in the back of the head and killed her.^[2] Servin claimed that he mistook someone holding a cell phone to be armed with a handgun and fired.

Aftermath

In November 2013, Servin was charged with "involuntary" manslaughter,^[3] but was cleared of all charges on April 20, 2015, by Judge Dennis J. Porter in a rare directed verdict.^[4]

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.^[5] Attorney Sam Adam, Jr., accused state prosecutor Anita Alvarez with deliberately undercharging Servin knowing that the charges would be dropped, in order to curry favor with the police department.^[6]

Servin claimed he fired because someone in the group was holding a gun, but it was actually only a cellphone.^[7] Witnesses said that Servin appeared drunk at the time of the incident.^[8]

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.^[9] The city paid $4.5 million to Boyd's family.

Servin resigned on Tuesday 17 May 2016, two days before the departmental hearing which was to decide whether he should be fired.^{[10] [11]}

Protests

While there was some public protest of the ruling,^[5] the community response was overall more muted compared to protests against the acquittals of other police officers involved in the deaths of African Americans, such as those who killed Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray. Some commentators ^[12] pointed to "the sexism of those ostensibly committed to black liberation" that "can leave us blind to the taste of brutality that black women are getting from the police."^[13][14]

The Black Lives Matter movement has protested the deaths of black girls and women at the hands of police, including Boyd's.^[15]

References