Illinois State Police released bodycam video of Sonya Massey’s deadly shooting Monday afternoon, depicting a chaotic scene after a sheriff’s officer shot her in the face over a pot of water in her house.
Sean Grayson, a Sangamon County deputy, has denied first-degree murder, aggravated violence with a firearm, and official misconduct. Sangamon County Jail holds him pending trial.
“The footage will jolt American consciousness. It’s absurd, unjustified, and unconstitutional “civil rights attorney Ben Crump stated. This sheriff’s deputy was twice Sonya’s size. Why shoot her in the head with a gun?”
Massey, a Black woman, contacted 911 early Saturday morning to report a suspected prowler outside her Springfield, Illinois, home.
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With Grayson facing first-degree murder charges, Crump said the family wants him punished harshly.
We don’t want it ignored. “No more Laquan McDonald,” Crump stated. “If we’re not vigilant, then you’ll get the Laquan McDonald treatment, where they’ll give a slap on the wrist and give three years for an execution.”
Crump was alluding to Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke’s 2014 second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated violence of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The shooting earned Van Dyke 81 months in prison, but he was freed after 3 years for good conduct.
First, bodycam footage shows deputies investigating Massey’s property and focusing on a broken-window automobile. Massey answers the door after five deputies knock. Warning: Violent and sensitive stuff in linked video.
The 36-year-old mother of two mumbles to Grayson, who replies: “Why would we injure you? You called.”
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Grayson, a White man, tells Massey at her door that nobody was discovered near her residence. The other deputy’s bodycam runs.
Deputies ask further about the car, ending this discussion a minute later.
The deputy with the body camera examines Massey’s car in the driveway as fireworks go off on July 4. The second deputy enters the house with Grayson.
Massey sits on her couch, offering to give the deputies paperwork and looks for her ID. Grayson then spots a pot on the stove, asks Massey to check on it, and lets her move it. He feels a house fire is unnecessary.
Massey turns off the heat and picks up the pot in the video.
“Where are you going?” Massey says.
“Away from your hot, steaming water,” Grayson replies.
“Away from my hot steaming water?” The footage shows Massey saying. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“What?” Grayson asks.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey says.
You better not. I swear to God, I’ll shoot you in the face “Grayson says.
He lifts his 9mm pistol and shouts at Massey to “drop the f***ing pot!”
Prosecutors said Grayson shoots Massey after she apologizes and ducks for cover. Three shots are heard in the video.
Massey may be holding the pot of water above her head before the shots in the video.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser claims Grayson activated his body camera after firing. State police published his body camera footage at the end of the tape, showing him raising his firearm.
Grayson allegedly encouraged his colleague not to treat Massey after the incident due of her severe injuries. Grayson states “She’s done” when the other deputy says he’ll retrieve his med kit after the shot. Go get it, but it’s a headshot.”
After that, Grayson asks the deputy, “What else can we do?” I won’t throw boiling water in the face, and it’s already here.” Grayson leaves to retrieve his med kit after the other cop claims they can halt Massey’s bleeding.
Massey is then attended to by the other deputy. He helped Massey in an emergency until medical help arrived.
Grayson says he shot Massey to someone out of view as the other deputy helps.
He says, “She had boiling water and came at me with boiling water.” “She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at me with boiling water.”
Crump claimed the footage proves the shooting was unnecessary.
The video describes the story. This video is unjustified. Crump called it one of the worst police shooting videos.
Massey’s family and friends say sheriff’s officials never told them a deputy shot him and that they learned the facts on the news 24 hours later.
Jimmy Crawford, the first of Massey’s family and friends to arrive to the scene, said authorities initially thought a neighbor who had a quarrel with Massey shot her, then they thought she shot herself.
Malachi Massey, Massey’s oldest son, said police never told the family who shot him. He discovered it the next day on the news.
“They would never tell me who shot my momma, though,” stated. “They wouldn’t tell me at all.”
On Tuesday, the family and Crump met with Gov. JB Pritzker, who assured Crump, “This is going to be a fair and transparent investigation and process at every level.”
Crump said the family wants a comprehensive inquiry into the shooting and what they were told.
“If somebody did try to suggest it was self-inflicted, then we need to know who,” he said.
The shooting and aftermath prompted Massey’s father, James Wilburn, to call for Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell’s resignation.
“I’m calling for the sheriff’s resignation, because I think it’s a culture to treat this family this bad,” said. “If it were not for that camera footage, we as a people, they would have lied, and they would have lied their way right out of this.”
The University of Chicago Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project founder, attorney Craig Futterman, analyzed the bodycam footage of the final moments.
“Part of what’s immediately horrifying is that is a situation that just didn’t need to happen,” said.
He said Grayson’s case will likely be that he felt intimidated by the hot pot of water, especially since Massey appeared to go for it again after raising her hands. The threat must be reasonable, and Futterman saw no such threat.
“First, I saw a woman who was clearly a little bit out of sorts, but didn’t look, and didn’t give off an appearance to any reasonable that she posed a threat of harm,” he added. Would any reasonable cop in such situation take out their gun and point it at her to threaten her life? Definitely no.”
Futterman said cops are trained to keep people out of their kitchens for a reason.
“Where do you last inform or let a possibly threatening person go? What’s in the kitchen, Futterman said.
Unlike the front room where Grayson spoke to Massey, “Knives are in the kitchen. You have pans “Futterman explained.
Officer Grayson’s tone, obscenity, and warning that he would shoot when she walked to the sink with the hot pot confused Futterman.
“The officer immediately grabbed his gun, and it escalated it went from zero to 100 like that,” stated.
Futterman said the pot of water incident did not merit a Taser or gun.
Family members condemn Massey’s killing after video release.
James Wilburn, Massey’s father, discussed seeing the footage on Monday afternoon.
I’ll wake up from this dream of watching. But I don’t know. “What to say?” asked James Wilburn. “I witnessed this in the George Floyd case. I asked God, “Why me?” after seeing this with Breonna Taylor. Why my child?”
Wilburn was outraged given his prior occupation.
Some of my best friends are police. He said, “I’m ex-law enforcement, so shameful.”
Wilburn also speculated that Grayson thought he was impervious to consequences.
“A person like that, because of his white privilege, it allows him to think he can do something like that and get away with it,” he said.
Wilburn said his daughter sought mental health care.
I think my kid said, ‘Daddy, I love you.'” To know I won’t see her, talk to her, or touch her again “Wilburn said.
Wilburn claimed he wasn’t aware a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed his daughter until late Monday after the videos dropped.
“Never did they say that it was a deputy-involved shooting until my brother read it on the internet,” stated.
State police claimed they were aware of the shooting about an hour before the bodycam video. A Sangamon County grand jury indicted Grayson on Wednesday, July 17, after hearing the bodycam evidence, authorities said.
Grayson was arrested Wednesday after an arrest warrant was issued. Grayson was sacked last week. CBS News found documentation showing Grayson worked for six law enforcement agencies since 2020. His counsel wouldn’t comment.
Crump said the family wants to know why the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office hired Grayson considering his law enforcement background.
Statement of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul:
“Sonya Massey’s family should not have to relive the awful body camera film. As the community reacts to the tape, please stay calm as the criminal justice system handles this situation.
Illinois law requires independent reviews after officer-involved shootings. The Illinois State Police’s investigation and referral to the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s office appear to have followed the law by providing transparency and accountability.”
Biden, who stated on Sunday he would not run for president again in 2024, delivered the following statement after the bodycam release:
Sonya Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman, should be alive today. Sonya reported a possible intruder to the police. Every American should be able to ask for help without fear of harm. Sonya’s death by a responding police reminds us that Black Americans typically fear for their safety more than others.
Sonya’s family needs justice. I feel terrible for her children and family as they grieve this needless tragedy. Jill and I grieve alongside the nation and pray for Sonya’s family, loved ones, and community.
“I applaud the Springfield State’s Attorney’s quick response. While waiting for prosecution, let us pray for the mourning. Congress must enact the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act now. Our belief in fairness is at stake.”
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