Authorities released body camera footage Monday of Sonya Massey’s final moments before she was fatally shot by law enforcement at her home in Springfield, Illinois.
Massey, 36, was killed July 6 after she called the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office because she was afraid there might be a prowler outside, according to an attorney for her family and Illinois State Police.
Former Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson is accused of shooting Massey in the face after he and another deputy were dispatched to her home shortly before 1 a.m.
Grayson has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, said Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser.
Grayson pleaded not guilty last week, according to his lawyer, Dan Fultz, who declined to comment after the body camera footage was released.
In the footage, Grayson and a second deputy can be seen knocking on Massey’s door a few times until Massey opens it.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Massey is heard saying to Grayson. The second deputy was not identified by authorities.
“Why would I hurt you? You called us,” Grayson responds.
The deputies tell Massey they checked the area around her house and didn’t see anybody, and then ask if she needs help with anything else. Grayson also asks Massey if she’s doing OK mentally, to which she answers, “Yes.”
“I love ya’ll, thank ya’ll,” Massey says as she’s closing her door. The deputies ask her if a black SUV in her driveway with a smashed window is hers, to which she says no and that someone brought it there.
The deputies then go into Massey’s house, where they ask her for her name so they “can get out of your hair.”
Massey then moves to her stove, where she picks up a pot from a burner. The situation escalates when she moves the pot from the stove.
“Where you goin’?” she asks the deputies.
“Away from your hot, steaming water,” Grayson responds.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she says.
Massey does not approach the deputies with the pot and stays in her kitchen.
“You better f—— not I swear to God I’ll f——- shoot you in your f——- face,” Grayson says before pulling out his gun.
“OK, I’m sorry!” Massey says as she ducks.
The second deputy also pulls out his gun.
“Drop the f——- pot!” Grayson screams.
Three gunshots are heard as Grayson continues to yell at Massey to drop the pot. Massey cannot be seen from behind the kitchen counter, but video from Grayson’s body camera shows that Massey had let go of the pot when she ducked.
The deputies called for emergency personnel.
The second deputy says he’s going to get his kit.
“Nah, headshot dude, she’s done,” Grayson says to him. “You can go get it but that’s a headshot.”
“Yeah I’m not taking f——- boiling hot water to the f——- head,” Grayson continues. “Hey look, it f——- came right to our feet too.”
He then goes to get his medical kit, saying, “I mean, there’s not much we can do.”
“We can at least try and hold the, stop the blood,” the second deputy says. He then goes into the kitchen, finds a towel and holds it to Massey. Massey is blurred out in the footage, but a large pool of blood can still be seen near her head, and she can be heard gasping.
When Grayson makes his way back into the home, he asks another deputy who has since entered, “Is there anything we can do for her?” The deputy responds, “No.”
“All right, I’m not even going to waste my med stuff then,” Grayson says.
The deputy asks Grayson, “Where’s the gun?”
“No, she had boiling water and came at me with boiling water,” Grayson says.
When Grayson leaves the house, a member of law enforcement standing outside asks him if he’s OK.
“Yeah I’m good. This f——- b—- is crazy,” he responds and walks to his vehicle shortly afterward.
The second deputy stays with Massey, holding the towel to her head until medical help arrives. Grayson is not seen trying to aid Massey.
Massey was taken to a hospital, where she was declared dead, according to state police.
A use-of-force review conducted by state police found that while Grayson did not attempt to de-escalate the encounter, he was justified in pointing his service weapon at Massey to get her to comply. But it found the shooting was not justified because Grayson advanced toward Massey and put himself in a position where he could have been injured.
Milhiser, the Sangamon County state’s attorney, said in an earlier statement that a review of the state police investigation, including body camera footage, “does not support a finding that Deputy Sean Grayson was justified in his use of deadly force.”
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said in a statement last week that Grayson had been fired because it was clear he “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”
In a statement posted Monday to Facebook, Campbell said Massey is dead because of an “unjustifiable and reckless decision” made by Grayson.
“Grayson had other options available that he should have used,” Campbell said. “His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement.”
The sheriff went on to say that Massey “needlessly lost her life” and that her family deserves answers.
President Joe Biden also weighed in on the killing on Monday, saying Massey should still be alive and lauding prosecutors for their “swift actions.”
Biden said he is “heartbroken” for Massey’s children and her family.
“When we call for help, all of us as Americans — regardless of who we are or where we live — should be able to do so without fearing for our lives,” the president said. “Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not.”
In a news conference Monday, Ben Crump, the attorney representing Massey’s family, contemplated whether race played a role in the deadly shooting.
“That is the lingering question in our community because many of us looked at that video and said, ‘If it was a white woman, he would not have done this,'” Crump said.
In a subsequent statement, the lawyer praised a decision to hold the former deputy without bond, describing the move as “another crucial step in the pursuit of justice for Sonya Massey’s family.”
Grayson’s next court date is scheduled for Aug. 26.
“We want equal justice for Sonya Massey,” Crump said at the news conference. “We said it before: whatever Grayson would be convicted of and sentenced to had it been a white woman is the same thing we want for this Black queen named Sonya Massey.”
