A 36-year-old Black woman who called 911 to report someone prowling near her home was shot and killed by one of the police officers sent to help her, according to shocking body-camera footage that was released by Illinois State Police on Monday.
Police officials, politicians and civil rights figures have condemned the officer’s actions as an unnecessary use of deadly force as outrage grows over the police shooting. Massey’s death is just the latest example of Black people being killed by American police in their homes in recent years, including Breonna Taylor, whose death helped spur massive racial injustice protests in the summer of 2020.
Sean Grayson, 30, the sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed Massey, has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He was indicted by an Illinois grand jury last week and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He was also fired by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting occurred on July 6 and quickly sparked local protests in Sangamon County, where organizers demanded the release of bodycam footage and transparency in the case. Weeks later, and following the arrest and indictment of Grayson, the Illinois State Police have now released the disturbing footage showing the moments leading up to and the immediate aftermath of Massey’s death.
Just before she was shot, the 36-year-old went to move a pot of boiling water off the stove after Grayson flagged it as a fire risk. She then said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” which angered Grayson, who drew his weapon and threatened to shoot her.
Massey immediately apologized and Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot of water. Massey ducked for cover behind her kitchen counter and Grayson fired his pistol three times, fatally striking her in the head.
Most of the 36 minutes of footage was recorded by a body camera worn by Grayson’s partner. The identity of this deputy has not been revealed. The second deputy did not fire their weapon and does not appear to be facing charges.
The body camera footage
Authorities said Massey had called 911 earlier to report a suspected prowler. The video shows that the two deputies responded just before 1 a.m. on July 6 at her home in Springfield. They first walked around the house and found a black SUV with broken windows in the driveway.
It took Massey three minutes to open the door after the deputies knocked, and she immediately said, “Don’t hurt me.”
She seemed confused as they spoke at the door, and she repeated that she needed help, referenced God and told them she didn’t know who owned the car. She also told the deputies that it took her so long to answer the door because she had to get dressed.
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Inside the house, deputies seemed exasperated as she sat on her couch and went through her purse as they asked for identification to complete a report before leaving. Then, Grayson pointed out a pot sitting on a flame 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 the pot near a sink. She and Grayson seemed to share a laugh over her pan of “steaming hot water” before she unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“You better f—ing not or I swear to God I’ll f—ing shoot you in your f—ing face,” he said. He then pulled his 9-mm pistol and demanded she drop the pot.
Massey said, “OK, I’m sorry.” In Grayson’s body camera footage, he pointed his weapon at her. She ducked and raised her hands.
In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police on Monday, July 22, 2024, former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, left, points his gun at Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help, before shooting and killing her inside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024.
Illinois State Police via AP
Grayson was still in the living room, facing Massey and separated by a counter dividing the living room and kitchen. Prosecutors have said the separation allowed Grayson both “distance and relative cover” from Massey and the pot of hot water.
After Grayson shot her, Grayson discouraged his partner from grabbing 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 f—ing boiling water to the f—ing face.”
Grayson 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.”
In a statement announcing Grayson had been fired from the force, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office wrote that it was “clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said Grayson’s actions were “inexcusable” and promised that he “will never again work in law enforcement.”
“Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson. Grayson had other options available that he should have used,” Campbell said. “Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them.”
At Massey’s funeral on Friday, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the body camera footage of her death would “shock the conscience of America like the pictures of Emmett Till after he was lynched.” The lynching of 14-year-old Till in 1955 helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
Crump is representing Massey’s family. During a Monday afternoon news conference, Crump called Grayson’s “revisionist” justification for shooting the 36-year-old “disingenuous.”
“She needed a helping hand. She did not need a bullet to her face,” Crump said of Massey.
Asked why Massey told Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Crump said she had undergone treatment for mental health issues. He noted that she invoked God’s name from the beginning of the encounter and asked for her Bible after the deputies stepped inside.
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, demanded the county court system be completely open with its investigation and prosecution and transparent with the public.
“The only time I will see my baby again is when I leave this world,” Wilburn said. “And I don’t ever want anybody else in the United States to join this league.”
Grayson is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.
His lawyer, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill Biden were praying for Massey’s family “as they face this unthinkable and senseless loss.”
“When we call for help, all of us as Americans – regardless of 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 a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not.”
Vice-President Kamala Harris called the body camera footage released Monday “disturbing.”
“Sonya Massey deserved to be safe. After she called the police for help, she was tragically killed in her own home at the hands of a responding officer sworn to protect and serve,” Harris stated, giving her condolences to the “communities across our nation whose calls for help are often met with suspicion, distrust, and even violence.”
Massey’s death comes on the heels of a similar police shooting two months ago in May, when a Florida sheriff’s deputy shot and killed 23-year-old Roger Fortson, a senior airman with the air force. Fortson opened the door of his home in Fort Walton Beach armed with a handgun pointed down. The deputy involved in this incident, Eddie Duran, was fired.
— With files from The Associated Press