In Memory Of: Black Women Who Died Unjustly
Rekia Boyd
Less than one month after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida last year, 22-year-old unarmed Rekia Boyd died after an off-duty Chicago police officer shot her, claiming self-defense. The officer said he drove up to a group of people at 1 a.m. while looking into a disturbance near his home. The officer pulled out his gun and fired after he saw 39-year-old Antonio Cross pull out a gun. The shots hit Boyd in the head, and she died the next day. Cross claims he was using his cell phone, which was mistaken for a gun. Also, witnesses say the off-duty officer was intoxicated, and approached the group in civilian clothes, and never identified himself as a police officer. He was reportedly belligerent, yelling at the group people to “shut up.”
