About 100 people gathered at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis on Monday evening in remembrance of Sonya Massey, who was killed by a police officer in her Springfield, Illinois, home earlier this month.
The vigil was intended to celebrate her life while also condemning police brutality against Black people, specifically Black women.
Kayla Reed, executive director of Action St. Louis, who helped organize the event, said she’s disheartened by Massey’s death.
“I can’t put words to how many names I know of people I’ve never met, but the stories I’ve heard of how they were killed by police,” Reed said. “It’s an endless list, and I want that list to end.”
She said everyone should be concerned about the issue.
“To not be concerned at this point is willful ignorance because it is everywhere, and it has happened so many times,” she said. “My hope is that people continue to understand that this is an important issue, not just in the moments where we have a video, or we raise a name, but every day we should be concerned about how police interact with our community members and how much harm they perpetuate.”
Ohun Ashe, another organizer of the event, agreed that the issue affects everyone in some way.
“I think people not being able to survive basic police encounters doesn’t just touch one community, it touches multiple,” Ashe said. “Until it touches you, you may not see it, but at this rate and how they are continuously killing, it’s going to touch you at some point.”
Massey called 911 to report a potential prowler outside her home. Two Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies responded just before 1 a.m. July 6, searched her yard and later entered her home.
Inside, the deputies spoke with Massey and searched her home. They then asked her to remove a pot of water that was on the stove. While Massey did so, the deputies backed up. Massey asked where the officers were going, to which they laughed and replied away from her pot of “steaming hot water,” according to body camera video released last week.
Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” One of the deputies, Sean Grayson, then began threatening to shoot Massey in the face while demanding she drop the pot. Massey ducked while raising her hands, but as she stood back up, Grayson shot three times, killing her with one shot to her head.
At Kiener Plaza, St. Louis resident Maxi Glamour said there hasn’t been enough reform when it comes to police brutality, recalling the killing of Michael Brown almost 10 years ago.
“I remember right after it, everyone, every politician is like, ‘We're going to have to make some change, we're going to do something,’” Glamour said. “The Ferguson Commission came out, and organizations were popping up left and right, said ‘We're going to never let this happen again.’ I've been here today; it shows that this is happening still.”
Meloney Jones-White said she feels personally affected seeing police violence against Black women.
“We have the same lived experience, and the same thing that happened to her could likely happen to one of us,” Jones-White said. “That is not OK.”
Grayson has been fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office and is facing murder charges.
