Rekia Boyd

Rekia Boyd, 22, was shot and killed by off-duty Chicago Police Detective Dante Servin near Douglas Park on the city's West Side in the early hours of March 21, 2012. Servin, in his car in a nearby alley, fired five shots over his shoulder at a group Boyd was part of, striking a man in the hand and Boyd in the back of the head; he said he believed one of the group had pulled a gun, but no weapon was ever found. Servin was charged nearly two years later with involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm. At his 2015 bench trial, the judge issued a directed verdict of not guilty before the defense even presented its case, ruling that Servin's conduct was intentional rather than reckless — meaning prosecutors had charged the wrong offense — while noting Servin's actions were “beyond reckless.” Because of double jeopardy, he could never be retried on a more serious charge. No one has ever been convicted in Boyd's death.

Chicago, IL · Cook County County

• 2012: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The shooting, the five shots fired, and Boyd's death, per Chicago Police Department records and subsequent trial testimony.
• No weapon was ever recovered from the scene despite an extended police search, per contemporaneous reporting.
• Servin was charged in January 2014 with involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm, and reckless conduct.
• At an April 2015 bench trial, Cook County Judge Dennis Porter issued a directed finding of not guilty on all counts, ruling that the evidence showed Servin's firing was intentional rather than reckless — meaning it should have been charged as a more serious offense — and that the involuntary manslaughter charge as filed could not be sustained.
• The judge stated Servin's conduct was “beyond reckless,” but because of the specific charge filed, was legally barred from convicting him of anything greater; double jeopardy protections mean Servin can never be retried on a murder charge for Boyd's death.
• The city of Chicago settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Boyd's family for $4.5 million in 2013, before the criminal trial concluded.
• In 2019, a different Cook County judge declined to expunge Servin's record, citing the strength of the evidence presented at trial despite the acquittal.

• Whether a member of Boyd's group in fact possessed or displayed a weapon, as Servin claimed, was never resolved — no weapon was found, but the claim was never conclusively disproven in court either.
• Why the Cook County State's Attorney's office originally filed involuntary manslaughter rather than a murder charge, given the judge's later finding that the conduct was intentional, has not been fully explained by prosecutors.
• The full internal disciplinary history and departure circumstances for Servin from the Chicago Police Department following the case have not been comprehensively documented.

• WTTW News — “Aftermath of Rekia Boyd Verdict” (2015)
• Chicago Sun-Times — “Dante Servin's record won't be expunged in death of Rekia Boyd” (2019)
• Fox News / AP — “Off-duty Chicago police officer acquitted of involuntary manslaughter”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs