Illinois State Police reported that Sonya Massey, a Black woman, made the emergency call in the early hours of Saturday, July 6, to report a potential intruder outside her home in Springfield, Illinois. Two officers responded to the scene.
Body camera footage reveals Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two, seated on her couch. She is seen offering to provide the deputies with paperwork and searching for her ID.
Deputy Sean Grayson then notices a pot on the stove and asks Massey to check on it, giving her permission to move it and expressing concern about avoiding a fire. The video shows Massey turning off the stove’s flame and picking up the pot.
“Where are you going?” Massey is heard saying. “Away from your hot, steaming water,” Grayson says. “Away from my hot steaming water?” Massey seems to say in the video. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“What?” Grayson says. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey says. “You’d better f***ing not. I swear to God, I’ll f***ing shoot you right in your f***ing face,” Grayson says.
He then raises his gun, a 9mm pistol, and yells at Massey to “drop the f***ing pot!”
In the footage, Massey is seen apologizing and seeking cover before Grayson shoots her, with three shots heard in the video.
Grayson did not turn on his body camera until after the shots were fired, according to Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser. However, his partner’s body camera recorded the incident.
Following the shooting, Grayson allegedly told his partner not to administer medical aid to Massey due to the severity of her injuries. When the other deputy mentioned getting his medical kit, Grayson reportedly said, “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a headshot.”
Shortly afterward, Grayson is heard saying to the deputy, “What else can we do? I’m not taking a pot of boiling water to the f***ing face, and it already reached us.”
Grayson then goes to retrieve his medical kit, while the other officer tries to address Massey’s bleeding.
It was also reported that Grayson claimed Massey had boiling water and was coming at him with it.
Deputy Sean Grayson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct. He is currently being held in the Sangamon County Jail awaiting trial.
“(The video) is going to shock the conscience of America. It is that senseless, that unnecessary, that unjustifiable, that unconstitutional,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said. “This sheriff’s deputy was twice as large as Sonya. Why would you have to use a gun to shoot her in the head?”
