Twenty-one months after shooting and killing an unarmed woman, a Chicago police detective has been charged in connection with her death.
WBBM-TV reported on Monday that 45-year-old Detective Dante Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct for his involvement in the death of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. Boyd was part of a large group at a park in the Douglas Park neighborhood on March 21, 2012, when Servin killed her while allegedly aiming for another person.
"We feel strongly that in this particular case, Miss Rekia Boyd lost her life for no reason and that this defendant’s actions were reckless in shooting in that alleyway," WBBM quoted State Attorney Anita Alvarez as saying.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Servin was held on $75,000 bail. He is only the second local officer since 1997 to be charged in connection with a shooting.
Servin has said that he was shooting in self-defense after another person in the park that night, convicted felon Antonio Cross, pointed a gun at him when the detective, who was off duty at the time, confronted members of the group. The Tribune reported that, according to prosecutors, he called 911 twice that night to tell authorities about a group he said numbered between 200 and 300 people, warning dispatchers that "something bad is going to happen."
In March 2013, the Chicago City Council awarded Boyd's family a $4.5 million settlement in a wrongful death suit, acknowledging that Servin fired five times over his shoulder from his car. But he has remained on the force on administrative leave since the shooting took place.
Boyd's brother, Martinez Sutton, told the Tribune on Monday that he did not think the case against the detective would advance this far.
"Hopefully, it lets cops know and other people with authority (know) that you can't keep abusing the system," Sutton was quoted as saying. "My sister's dead. She's not coming back. That's the hardest thing we have to get over."
Watch WBBM's report on the charges against Servin, aired on Monday, below.
