CHICAGO — A Cook County judge Wednesday morning dismissed criminal charges against a man who was shot by an off-duty police detective last year in the same incident that took the life of Rekia Boyd.
Antonio Cross was accused of aggravated assault, but Judge Clarence Burge dismissed the charges Wednesday after Chicago Police detective Dante Servin failed to show up for court. Cross also claimed the officer in question was drunk at the time of the incident.
The development came on the same morning that the Chicago City Council was set to vote on a $4.5 million settlement payment to Boyd's family.
Cross, now 40, and Boyd, then 22, were shot in March 2012 near Douglas Park on the West Side by Servin, who was allegedly asking their group to quiet down late at night.
At the time, police said Servin was driving in the 3100 block of West 15th Place and stopped to "investigate" a disturbance. When he rolled down his window, Servin said Cross came toward him with a gun, police said.
According to police, Servin identified himself as an officer, but Cross didn't stop, so he opened fire on him, striking Cross and killing Boyd.
Police later said Cross did not have gun. On Wednesday he said he was holding a cellphone, making a call, and has phone records to prove it.
Cross, who said he's been to court 10 or 12 times since he was charged last March, said there has been no justice for friends and family of Boyd.
"He shot his gun for no reason, and that girl lost her life," Cross said after the hearing. "I've been to jail. Be a man, accept responsibility."
Cross said the officer was drunk when he pulled up to the group.
"I looked in his eyes," he said after the brief court hearing. "I told him, 'We don't have no drugs; get your crack ass out of here.'"
It was then that the officer started shooting, Cross said. Cross was shot in the right hand.
Cross and witness Mantise Stevenson said the officer had a gun in his lap when he pulled up to the group complaining about noise.
Cross and his attorney said they had not been notified that the charges would be dropped, but they were not surprised.
A source close to the ongoing investigation into Servin's actions that day said Wednesday that police were also surprised that the charge against Cross had been dropped.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office had no comment on the case after the hearing, and police officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Cross' attorney Benjamin Starks called the state's case a "farce."
"All along they've kept up the charade," he said.
Boyd's brother said he doubts Servin will be held accountable for fatally shooting his sister.
"Nothing has even started yet; I'm praying that it does," said Martinez Sutton, Rekia's brother, with tears streaming down his face.
The Rev. Tavis Grant of Chicago's Rainbow PUSH Coalition said the organization intends to issue a statement to police today demanding justice.
"She was murdered and this officer should be brought up on charges," he said. "An innocent person lost their life."
He said police and prosecutors have failed thus far.
"It's unexplainable that a year has past and there are still no charges," he said.
