The family of a woman allegedly shot and killed by an off-duty Chicago police officer last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Rekia Boyd, 22, was shot in the back of the head while walking with another man near 15th and Albany Avenue.
"I can't even describe the hurt, the pain and the feelings that we had. It's unbearable," cried Boyd's brother, Martinez Sutton, describing how he watched a television news report of the shooting on March 21, not knowing the victim was his sister.
According to the family's attorney, James Montgomery, the off-duty officer got into an argument with the man with whom Boyd was walking. Words were exchanged and the officer pulled his gun and fired shots, hitting both Boyd and her friend.
Neither victim was armed, Montgomery said.
"The police spokesperson publicly claimed that the officer fired in defense of his life when a man approached his vehicle and pointed a gun at him," Montgomery said. "Incidentally, no gun was ever found."
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, names the off-duty officer and the city of Chicago as defendants.
