The main line
Sonya Massey, a black woman from Illinois, was fatally shot in her home by a former deputy after reporting a suspect to 911 last month, leading to outrage and criminal charges against the officer — and the county sheriff’s resignation on friday.
This undated photo provided by the family’s attorneys in July 2024 shows Sonya Massey of Springfield, … [+]
Key facts
Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two, was fatally shot by Sean Grayson, a former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, on the morning of July 6 at her home in Springfield, Illinois, after reporting a suspected intruder to 911 .
Grayson, 30, was indicted on July 17 and pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, and one count of official misconduct and aggravated battery with a firearm, NPR Illinois reported.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office released a statement after the indictment saying Grayson “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards” and confirmed that he had been terminated from his position.
Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey’s family, said Grayson’s indictment was a “step toward justice for Sonya’s loved ones.”
On Monday, Illinois State Police released 36 minutes of body camera footage of the incident by Grayson and the other officer who responded to Massey’s home that morning, sparking an explosion on social media, with many comparing Massey’s case to the shooting. fatal police shootings involving other blacks. women like Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jefferson.
Forbes has reached out to Grayson’s attorney for comment.
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News Peg
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell will step down from his post by the end of August, he said in a statement Friday to multiple media outlets. Campbell, who had previously apologized for killing Massey but indicated he would not resign, said “it has become clear that the current political climate has made it almost impossible for me to continue effectively in my role”. Days earlier, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, D, asked Campbell to resign, arguing that the sheriff failed to explain how Grayson was hired even though he had been fired from several other police departments. Pritzker also said Campbell “failed” to introduce reforms to police training and has yet to meet with the Massey family to discuss the case.
What does Sonya Massey’s autopsy reveal?
The Sangamon County Coroner’s Office released the results of Sonya Massey’s final autopsy, which confirm she died of a gunshot wound to the head, NBC News reports. The bullet reportedly entered under her left eye, pierced a carotid artery and exited the back of her neck. Massey also had minor blunt force injuries to her right leg, according to the autopsy. “Why this is so significant is that it confirms that Rep. Sean Grayson shot on a downward trajectory,” Crump said during a press conference Friday after the report’s release. “[These] The autopsy findings along with the video, where we see him sitting down, [and] says, ‘Excuse me, sir, excuse me,’ he snapped as she made the move. That’s how you get the trajectory of the fall and you see in the video, his arms, he’s aiming down.”
What did the body camera footage reveal?
Footage shows Grayson and another deputy searching Massey’s property and noticing a car with a broken window before knocking on the door. Massey opens the door and lets the deputies in after a brief conversation about the car. Massey offered to give the deputies some documents, but Grayson noticed the stove was on and ordered him to turn it off. Massey then goes to turn off a pot of boiling water and takes the pot, causing Grayson to tell her to stay “away from the boiling water”. Massey replies “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus”, and Grayson tells her “I better shoot you in the face – not before I shoot you”. He then raises his gun and points it and yells at Massey to “get the pot off!” Massey then appears to apologize before three shots are fired. After a few seconds, one of the deputies says “shots” and calls for a medical emergency. “Dude, I’m not bringing f— boiling water to f—” Grayson then says. “And look, it came at our feet too.” Moments after the shooting, Grayson speaks with another law enforcement officer. “She had boiling water and she came to me with boiling water,” he says in the video. “She said she would rebuke me in the name of Jesus and she came [me] with boiling water.”
The chief critics
Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Massey’s killing in a statement Tuesday, saying she “deserved to be safe,” adding that she and running mate Doug Emhoff are “grieving her senseless death.” Biden also released a statement on Monday: “Sonia called the police because she was concerned about a possible intruder,” he said. “When we call 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.” Both Biden and Harris praised the actions of the Springfield State Attorney’s Office and called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Police Justice Act, which was enacted in 2021 after the 2020 police shooting of Floyd in Minneapolis. “Sonya Massey was concerned for her safety and called law enforcement to her home for protection,” Pritzker said in a statement released July 17. “Like all Illinoisans, she deserved that protection. Instead, innocent and unarmed, she was shot by an officer of the law.”
tangential
Grayson has worked for six different law enforcement agencies over the course of four years, according to the Associated Press. He worked part-time in Illinois for the Pawnee Police Department, Kincaid Police Department and Virden Police Department in 2020 and 2021. He then worked for the Auburn Police Department full-time until May 2022 before transferring to another full-time position with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. Grayson left the sheriff’s office in April 2023 and was hired full-time by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in May 2023.