The former cop who killed Rekia Boyd at a party in 2012, wants disability benefits, reports the Chicago Tribune. Dante Servin says the fatal shooting has caused him post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Servin resigned from the Chicago Police Department earlier this year, just ahead of hearing to determine if he should be fired for killing 22-year-old Boyd.
Boyd was shot to death after Servin got into an altercation with a group of men over loud noise.
The former Chicago police Detective who was off-duty and in plain clothes when he confronted the group at Douglas Park and never identified himself as an officer. After a verbal exchange, Servin subsequently fired five shots as the group turned to leave, and struck Boyd in the head.
Servin claims to have opened fire after mistaking someone’s cell phone for a gun. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter for Boyd’s death, and acquitted last year.
Servin filed for disability benefits a month before quitting the police department, amid calls for his firing. An Illionois law bars police officers who quit from receiving disability, unless the request for benefits is filed before the resignation — a loophole that could potentially work in Servin’s favor.
In order for the police board to approve his benefits, Servin must prove that the the shooting caused him PTSD.
Meanwhile, Servin has already received more than half of his $104,000 salary, and is expected to receive a pension.