Death of CPD deputy chief in Homan Square facility ruled a suicide: autopsy

Chicago Fire Department personnel take down the American flag outside the Cook County medical examiner’s office after the procession for CPD Deputy Chief Dion Boyd, who was found dead in his office Tuesday morning, July 28, 2020 of an apparent suicide. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

The Tuesday shooting death of a newly promoted Chicago police deputy chief has been ruled a suicide, according to an autopsy result released Wednesday.

Dion Boyd, 57, died from a self-inflicted gunshot to his chest, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Boyd, a nearly 30-year veteran of CPD, was found unresponsive in his office Tuesday morning at the Homan Square facility on the West Side, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

He’d been sworn in July 15 as deputy chief of criminal networks in a series of leadership changes by Supt. David Brown.

After news of his death, Brown told reporters “There’s really no way to convey or express the magnitude of this loss.”

A 2017 report by the U.S. Department of Justice found that Chicago’s suicide rate among officers was 60% higher than the national average.

Newly-promoted CPD Deputy Chief of Criminal Networks Dion Boyd (right) was sworn in during a promotion ceremony at CPD headquarters by retiring First Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio on July 15.