Judge Throws Out Charges Against Cop Who Shot And Killed Rekia Boyd
By aaroncynic in News on Apr 20, 2015 8:15PM
A Chicago Police detective who shot and killed an unarmed woman in 2012 was cleared of all charges today by a judge. In what the Sun-Times called an “unusual move,” Judge Dennis Porter acquitted Officer Dante Servin of all charges involving the shooting of Rekia Boyd, which included involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct. Servin didn’t even have to put up a defense.
Boyd was shot in the head and killed in Douglas Park by Servin after he opened fire, while off duty, on a group of people in March of 2012. Servin maintained that one of Boyd’s companions, Antonio Cross, who was also shot, pointed a gun at him but no weapon was ever found. Cross only had a cell phone.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Judge Porter ruled that prosecutors “failed to prove that Dante Servin acted recklessly,” despite testimony from Cross that the officer fired several shots over his shoulder into a crowd. Boyd, who was unarmed, was struck in the head and died the next day in the hospital. Porter said Servin’s decision to shoot was “intentional.” According to the Sun-Times, Porter said “it would be improper to allow the trial to continue given the total failure” to prove recklessness because his conduct was “beyond reckless.”
Several people, including Boyd’s brother, Martinez Sutton, were physically dragged out of the courtroom as Porter handed down the verdict. "You want me to be quiet?! This morherfucker [sic] killed my sister” said Sutton, according to DNAinfo’s Erica Demerest. “I had faith, I had hope” said Sutton outside the courtroom. “I thought the judge would grow a heart.”