Authorities on Monday released police body camera video showing the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Springfield woman, during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home.
The July 6 incident left Massey dead and led to first-degree murder charges against former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. Authorities said Massey, who is black, called 911 in the early morning hours to report a suspected prowler.
Sheriff’s Office officers responded to the scene and spent several minutes searching nearby yards, body camera footage shows. The Sangamon County District Attorney’s Office released several edited video segments, totaling about 35 minutes, on Monday as questions surrounding the incident continued to mount.
About 5 minutes and 30 seconds into the footage, police officers are seen knocking on the front door of the home – at one point they claim to hear a phone ringing and say the woman is refusing to come to the door.
Massey opened the door about four minutes later, explaining that there was someone outside his house.
Then she said, “Please, God, please, God, please.”
The two deputies who responded to the call explained that they had searched the area and found no one, to which Massey responded, “Please, God, please, God, I’m trying to get help, y’all.”
Officers then repeatedly asked Massey what she needed, and the Springfield woman responded that she heard someone outside. Officers asked why it took Massey so long to open the door and asked if she was mentally okay. The 36-year-old woman responded “yes” and explained that she was getting dressed. Officers then asked her name and followed her into the house.
As Grayson speaks to Massey, the other deputy’s body camera shows him searching various rooms in the house. The deputies then ask for his ID so “they can leave her alone.”
When Massey insists on showing them unspecified documents, they ask him again for his ID. After receiving Grayson’s permission, Massey goes to his stove, grabs a pot of boiling water from the stove, and asks the officers, “Where are you going?”
“…away from your boiling water,” Grayson said.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus… I rebuke you,” Massey replied.
“You better not do it, I swear I’ll shoot you in the head,” Grayson said.
Massey says she’s sorry and takes cover as the deputies repeatedly yell at her to drop the pot. Then three gunshots ring out. After the shooting, the second deputy says he’s going to get his emergency kit to help, but Grayson discourages him.
“Not with a headshot…” he says on the bodycam video. “She’s done. You can go get her, but it’s a headshot.”
Grayson, speaking to his partner, said he wasn’t going to “get boiling water thrown in the face.”
Despite being told not to take her medical kit, Grayson’s partner walks over to Massey and attempts to stop the bleeding, saying she was shot in what appears to be the eye.
“She’s still panting a little bit,” he can be heard saying as he holds a rag over his head as Grayson appears to say in the background that he’s “not going to waste” his medical kit.
Grayson, who was fired after the incident, did not activate his body camera until after he fired, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces prison sentences ranging from 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for assault and battery and two to five years for disorderly conduct.
After the video was released, the Illinois attorney general released a statement calling the body camera footage “horrific.”
“The body camera footage is horrific and I offer my deepest condolences to Sonya Massey’s family as they relive a moment no family should have to experience,” Raoul said. “As the community reacts to the release of the footage, I urge calm as this case winds its way through the criminal justice system.”
Raoul added that it appears the investigation by the Illinois State Police and the subsequent referral to the Sangamon County District Attorney’s Office “met the letter and spirit of the law in providing appropriate transparency and moving toward accountability.”
