SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Sonya Massey ducked and apologized to an Illinois sheriff’s deputy just seconds before he shot her three times in front of her, with one fatal blow to the head, as seen in body camera video released Friday.
The release of the video comes days after an Illinois grand jury indicted former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. Officials said Massey’s family saw the footage on Wednesday.
The video confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled from the counter at Massey, 36, to put the pot off the stove just seconds after she started pouring water into the sink and the two laughed. “hot water kab.
He then threatened to shoot him, Massey ducked, briefly rose and Grayson fired a pistol at him.
Authorities said Massey had called 911 earlier to report a suspected prowler. The video says two deputies responded just before 1 a.m. on July 6, walked by the home and found a black SUV with a broken window in the driveway.
It took Massey three minutes to open the door after deputies knocked, and he immediately said, “Don’t hurt me.”
He seemed confused when they talked at the door, and repeatedly he needed help, referring to God and told them he did not know who owned the car.
The video does not show what led Massey and Grayson to walk through his home, followed by another unidentified deputy. The deputy appeared irritated as he sat down in a chair and opened his wallet when asked for identification. Then Grayson pointed to a pot sitting on a visible fire on the stove.
“We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” he said.
Massey immediately got up and went to the stove, moving a pot near the sink. He and Grayson seemed to laugh before saying, “I strike you in the name of Jesus.”
“You better (swear) not or I swear to God I’ll shoot you in the (expletive) face.” He then pulled out a 9mm handgun and said, “Get off the pot (expletive).”
Massey said, “Okay, I’m sorry.” In Grayson’s bodycam footage, he pointed a weapon at her. He ducked and raised his hand while still holding two oven mitts.
Grayson was still in the living room, facing Massey and separated by the table that separated the living room from the kitchen. Prosecutors said the separation allowed Grayson “relative distance and cover” from Massey.
After Grayson shot him, another deputy said, “I’m going to get my kit.”
Grayson said, “No, it’s a headshot. He’s done. You can ask for it, but it’s a headshot… there’s nothing you can do about it, man.”
He added: “What else is there to do? I’m not taking (expletive) boiling hot water to my (expletive) face.”
Noticing that Massey was still breathing despite losing a lot of blood, he relented and said he would get the kit as well. Another deputy replied, “At least we can try to stop the bleeding.”
Speaking to the police who responded, Grayson said that “he had boiling water and came at me, with boiling water. … He said he will punish me in the name of Jesus and come at me with boiling water.
Grayson, who was fired last week, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond.
If convicted, he faces 45 years to life in prison for murder, 6 to 30 years for battery and 2 to 5 years for the misdemeanor. His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined comment Monday.
“The body camera footage is shocking, and I offer my deepest sympathies to Sonya Massey’s family as they relive a time no family should have to go through,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement. “As the public reacts to the release of the footage, I ask for calm because this matter can be worked through the criminal justice system.”
In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden are praying for the Massey family “as they face this unimaginable and senseless loss.”
“When we ask for help, all of us as Americans — no matter who we are or where we live — should be able to do so without fearing for our lives,” Biden said. “Sonya’s death at the hands of responding officers is a reminder that black Americans are often afraid of being unsafe.”
Ben Crump, a noted civil rights lawyer who represented Massey’s family, told the crowd at her funeral in Springfield on Friday that the video will show shocking crimes like the lynching of a Chicago teenager in 1955, Emmitt Till in Mississippi, the shooting of a Chicago police officer. Laquan McDonald and the killing of Minneapolis police officer George Floyd.
“This will shock the American conscience. It is senseless, unnecessary, unenforceable, unconstitutional,” Crump said.
Massey’s death is the latest example of black men being killed in recent years by police in their homes.
In May, Florida’s Hispanic sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Roger Fortson, when the Air Force senior airman answered the door of his home in Fort Walton Beach armed with a pistol pointed downwards. The deputy, Eddie Duran, was fired.
In 2018, a white Dallas police officer shot Botham Jean, who was unarmed, after mistaking her apartment for his own. Amber Guyger, a former officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In 2019, a white Fort Worth, Texas, officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through the back window of her home after responding to a non-emergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, a former officer, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.
Crump has represented the family in each case as part of an effort to force responsibility for the killing of Black men at the hands of the police.
Massey’s death sparked subsequent protests demanding justice in Springfield, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Speaking at her funeral there, Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said he was encouraged by the speed with which the Illinois State Police investigated the incident.
“Within 10 days, they set up a grand jury. They finished the investigation. They were arrested, they were fired,” Wilburn said. “That’s unheard of.”
Crump is also representing the relatives of Earl Moore, a Springfield man who died after he was strapped to a stretcher in December 2022. Two emergency medical professionals face manslaughter charges in the case.
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AP writer Sophia Tareen contributed from Chicago.
