Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Dante Servin Quits, Set To Collect Pension 4 Years After Killing Rekia Boyd

By  David Matthews and Jen Sabella | May 17, 2016 1:25pm 


Rekia Boyd was fatally shot by Servin in 2012. [Facebook]

CHICAGO — The police detective who shot into a crowd while off-duty and killed teenager Rekia Boyd in 2012 has resigned, saving his pension as well as the indignity of getting fired.

Dante Servin's resignation Tuesday came two days before an "evidentiary hearing" before the Chicago Police Board, said Max Caproni, the police board's executive director. Any charges against Servin, a 24-year police veteran, will now be dropped. 

RELATED: #DontPayDante, Activists Say After Rekia Boyd Killer Quits CPD With Pension

Servin's resignation comes about a year after he was acquitted of all charges related to the death of Boyd, a 22-year-old woman who was with a group of near Douglas Park when Servin pulled a gun while off-duty and shot into the crowd, striking Boyd in the head. 

By resigning, Servin is now eligible to collect his pension and any other outstanding benefits he stood to lose if fired, angering the activists who called for his ouster. 

"The best union to be in in this country is the [Fraternal Order of Police] because you can get away with murder and still get paid," community activist and anti-violence organizer Father Michael Pfleger said. 

Martinez Sutton, Boyd's brother, said he found out about Servin quitting Tuesday morning and wasn't at all surprised. He said he figured the process would drag on until Servin walked away with his pension. 

After four years of fighting for "justice" for his sister, Sutton said he wasn't sure what "justice" was anymore. 

"It destroyed a family. Rekia was light," he said. "I don't know how it affects [Servin], but he has to live with that. He has to live with it on his conscience."

Servin was found not guilty on manslaughter charges in Boyd's shooting death just over a year ago. A judge's ruling suggested he should have been charged with murder instead, which was "unusual" according to legal experts. 

Servin's continued employment drew infuriated protesters and figured in Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's defeat in the March primary. Former top cop McCarthy last year recommended to the Police Board that Servin be fired.

Servin "should’ve been fired and instead he can resign and make money and that’s an insult," Pfleger said. Trina Reynolds-Tyler of Black Youth Project 100, an activist group that called for Servin's ouster, said his resignation is "disrespectful." 

"He just took an early retirement," Reynolds-Tyler said. "It’s ridiculous that this process has taken so long to get to a firing hearing."

Page May, another local activist, said "it ain't over" till Servin loses his pension.

And despite being "disheartened and discouraged" by the "just us" system, Sutton said he sees hope in the activists around him, who took his family in and treated him "like a brother." 

"With enough public pressure [we could cut off his pension]," Sutton said. "With the power of the people, anything is possible."

The Black Youth Project issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they would call on Chicago's City Council to stop Servin from receiving his pension. 

"Dante Servin will still receive a pension that is paid for by us Chicagoans; this is unacceptable," the group said in a statement. "We must now pressure the Chicago City Council to prohibit Servin from receiving a pension (from a city that claims to lack financial resources) for the murder of Rekia Boyd – a daughter, a sister, and a human being."

Max Caproni and police union spokesman Dean Angelo did not immediately return messages seeking comment. 

Dante Servin was cleared of all charges in the shooting death of Boyd. [John J. Kim]

Rekia Boyd's brother Martinez Sutton has fought for Servin's firing for years.

Aishwarya Kumar and Evan Moore contributed to this story.
 

RELATED:

Fire Dante Servin, Demand Protesters, Who Also Want Chicago State Funded

Rekia Boyd's Family Expects Top Cop To Drag Feet in Firing of Dante Servin

Will Dante Servin Be Fired for Killing Rekia Boyd? The Process Is Long

Rekia Boyd's Bloody Hair Shown to Police as Activists Take Over Meeting

Rally Planned to Call for Firing of Officer Who Shot and Killed Rekia Boyd

Rekia Boyd, Other Female Victims of Police Violence Honored in Exhibit

Witness Says Cop Was Drunk When He Shot Unarmed Woman

Rekia Boyd 'Didn't Have a Chance,' Prosecutor Says on Opening Day of Trial

Rekia Boyd's Friend Sues Chicago Cop Who Killed Unarmed Woman

Chicago Police Detective Charged in 2012 Shooting Death of Rekia Boyd

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: