Trial Begins For Chicago Cop In Woman's Fatal 2012 Shooting
(CBS) – A bench trial got underway Thursday for a Chicago police officer in the 2012 shooting death of a 22-year-old African-American woman.
Dante Servin is on trial for involuntary manslaughter.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports.
"I don't forgive him. Never. I will never forgive him," Angela Helton, the mother of Rekia Boyd, told reporters.
The story prosecutors laid out for the judge was one of an angry off-duty cop who approached Boyd and her friends as they were hanging out in Douglas Park.
When the group ignored his comments about the noise they were making, prosecutors say, Servin got back his car. But as he was leaving, Servin grabbed his gun and began firing in the direction of the group, prosecutors said.
Defense attorneys say the officer feared for his life when one of Rekia's friends, Antonio Cross, made a threatening move toward him.
Cross was struck in the hand, but Rekia sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
A tearful Ikca Beamon disputed defense claims, testifying Cross never approached Servin's car, instead waved him away. Moments later she heard shots, she said.
Boyd's family packed the courtroom, along with members of the officer's family.
The bench trial resumes Monday.
