(WCIA) – Illinois State Police have released body camera footage from the deputies who responded to the residence of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who was shot and killed by one of the officers after she had called them for help.
Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with Massey’s death. He was also fired from his department last week.
Massey had called 911 on the night of July 6 to report a “prowler” outside her Springfield home. Prosecutors said in court that while Grayson and another deputy were responding to the call at Massey’s residence, Grayson asked Massey to move a pot of hot water on her stove to prevent an accidental fire. When she did, Grayson drew his weapon on her, threatening to shoot her unless she put the pot down.
The body-camera video reviewed by Nexstar’s WCIA shows that, only moments before, Massey greeted the responding officers at her door, and at one point said she loved them for checking on her.
As seen in the footage (viewer discretion is advised), both officers end up talking to Massey in front of her door, after looking around her property. The deputies and Massey then go inside her home, where she begins to look for her ID to help with the officers’ report.
Grayson notices a pot of boiling water on her stove, which Massey goes to move. At one point, she says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” — after which Grayson threatens to shoot her “in [her] f—ing face.”
Grayson draws his weapon and Massey can he heard saying she’s sorry. He demands she drop the pot of boiling water, and begins firing shots only seconds later.
Three shots were fired in total. One hit Massey, a mother of two, in the face.
After Massey was shot, the other deputy says he’s going to retrieve a medical kit from their vehicle, but Grayson tells him not to.
Grayson was also recorded on camera telling others his version of the events several times. (The footage was captured by other deputies’ cameras; Grayson did not have his camera turned on until after he shot Massey, according to court documents.)
“What else can we do? I’m not taking a pot of boiling water to the face,” he says at one point.
Grayson, too, made disparaging comments about Massey while she was on the floor bleeding, telling an officer “that f—ing b—- was crazy.”
“I think she set it up on purpose,” he added. “I had no f—ing choice.”
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney disagreed, and did not find his use of force justified. Grayson was charged with three counts of first degree murder, as well as aggravated battery with a firearm and one charge of official misconduct. He has been detained pre-trial.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, visited Springfield on Monday to speak at a news conference.
“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.
Earlier, during Massey’s funeral on Friday, Crump said that the video — which he and the family had already viewed — would “shock the conscience of America.”
“The only time I will see my baby again is when I leave this world,” James Wilburn, Massey’s father, said at the conference. “And I don’t ever want anybody else in the United States to join this league.”
Crump has represented families of several victims killed in police brutality incidents, including George Floyd and Tyre Nichols.
“Let us pray to comfort the grieving,” Crump said Monday.
Grayson, who was fired last week, is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, 6 to 30 years for battery and 2 to 5 years for misconduct.
His lawyer, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.