Bodycam footage shows chaotic scene where deputy fatally shoots Sonya Massey, who had called 911 for help
Sonya Massey ducked and apologized to an Illinois sheriff’s deputy moments before he shot her three times, with a fatal shot to the head, as shown in bodycam footage released on Monday.
A grand jury in Illinois indicted former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, who is white, last week. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.
The video supports prosecutors’ earlier description of the tense situation where Grayson, from across a counter, ordered Massey to set down a pot of hot water and then threatened to shoot her. Massey ducked, rose briefly, and Grayson fired his pistol.
Authorities said Massey, 36, had called 911 earlier to report a suspected prowler. The video shows the two deputies arrived just before 1 a.m. on July 6 at her home in Springfield, 200 miles southwest of Chicago. They first inspected the property and found a black SUV with broken windows in the driveway. Massey appeared confused during their conversation at the door, repeatedly asking for help, mentioning God, and saying she didn’t know who owned the car.
Inside, the deputies appeared frustrated as she sat on her couch and searched her purse while they asked for identification to complete their report. Grayson then pointed out a pot on the stove.
“We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” he said.
Massey immediately moved the pot near the sink. She and Grayson briefly laughed over the “steaming hot water” before she suddenly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson responded aggressively, pulling his 9mm pistol and demanding she drop the pot.
Massey said, “OK, I’m sorry.” In Grayson’s bodycam footage, he pointed his weapon at her. She ducked and raised her hands.
Grayson, still in the living room and separated by a counter from Massey, fired his weapon. Prosecutors have noted the counter provided Grayson with both “distance and relative cover” from Massey and the pot of hot water.
After shooting her, Grayson discouraged his partner from retrieving a medical kit to save her.
“You can go get it, but that’s a headshot,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”
He added, “What else do we do? I’m not taking hot (expletive) boiling water to the (expletive) face.”
However, seeing Massey still breathing, he agreed to get his kit, and the other deputy suggested they try to stop the bleeding. Grayson later told responding police, “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.”
During a Monday afternoon news conference, the family’s lawyer, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, called Grayson’s justification “disingenuous” and “revisionist.”