The Sangamon County State’s Attorney released body camera footage on Monday showing then-sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson shooting and killing Springfield, Ill. resident Sonya Massey inside Massey’s home.
The shooting happened a little after midnight on July 6 after Massey, who is Black, called 911 to report a potential prowler. The video shows Massey was unarmed, several feet away from deputies and draining a pot of boiling water in her kitchen when Grayson, who is white, told Massey, “I’ll f******* shoot you right in your f****** face” before opening fire.
Grayson has been fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and is charged with first degree murder.
After the shooting, Grayson can be heard on the body camera footage saying he was concerned about “taking hot boiling water” to the face.
Grayson later tells someone on the scene that Massey had boiling water and “came at” him. However, the video does not show Massey making a move toward Grayson. Instead, she cowered in fear and tried to crouch behind the kitchen counter after the deputies pulled their guns.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said the shooting was evidence of the need for Congress to pass police reform.
“Sonya called the police because she was concerned about a potential intruder. 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,” Biden said in the statement. “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.”
Massey was 36 years old. Her funeral was held on Friday.
Before the video’s release attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, said the footage would “shock the conscience of America.”
“It is that senseless, that unnecessary, that unjustifiable, that unconstitutional,” Crump said.
Grayson did not turn his body camera on until after the incident. Footage of the shooting comes from the body camera of the other deputy in the house. Grayson has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said last week that a review of the case “does not support a finding that (Grayson) was justified in his use of deadly force.”
Body camera and court documents show Grayson discouraged the other deputy from retrieving a medical kit because of the severity of Massey’s injury. The other deputy did, however, render aid until medical help arrived. Prosecutors say Grayson at no time attempted to help.
In a statement, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul called the video “horrific.”
“I offer my deepest sympathy to Sonya Massey’s family as they relive a moment no family should experience, Raoul said. “As the community reacts to the release of the footage, I urge calm as this matter works its way through the criminal justice system.”
Meanwhile, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus called for justice for Massey.
State Senator Robert Peters, D-Chicago, who chairs the caucus said in a statement that charges against Grayson are not enough.
“Justice demands answers and accountability. We need to know how and why someone capable of such a horrible act was given a badge and a gun in the first place,” Peters said. “The repeated murders of unarmed Black people across the country is sickening and emotionally traumatizing. Sonya Massey is dead because she called 911 for help. Our communities deserve better.”
