An Illinois woman was fatally shot inside her home this month by a sheriff’s deputy who responded to her 911 call, and the deputy is now charged with murder in the case, a prosecutor said this week.
Sonya Massey, 36, called 911 on July 6 because she thought an intruder was in her home in the Springfield area, according to the law office of Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing her family.
Sangamon County sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy responded to the call around 12:50 a.m., authorities said. Eventually, as the deputies were in Massey’s home to gather information and make sure the residence was safe, a dispute arose over a pot of hot water, and Grayson drew his gun and eventually fired three times toward her, striking her once in the face, according to a court document filed Thursday by Sangamon County prosecutors.
During the dispute before the shooting, Massey at one point apologized with her hands up, and Grayson at another point also yelled at her to put the pot down, prosecutors said in the document. The sheriff’s office said the deputies, who were not injured, reported the shooting around 1:20 a.m. Crump’s office has said Massey was unarmed.
An Illinois State Police investigation of the case did “not support a finding that … Grayson was justified in his use of deadly force,” the state’s attorney for the county, John Milhiser, said in a Wednesday news release.
A Sangamon County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Grayson on three counts of first-degree murder and a count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, Milhiser said.
At his arraignment Thursday, Grayson entered a not guilty plea and was denied pretrial release, according to court records. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for August 26.
CNN reached out Saturday to Grayson’s attorney, who declined to comment.
The sheriff’s department has fired Grayson, the office said Wednesday.
Crump said in a release last week that it was “extremely hard to imagine how a woman who calls police out of fear of an intruder ends up shot … by the police in her own home.”
On Wednesday, Crump said the charges marked “an important milestone in the pursuit of justice for Sonya Massey’s family.”
“This news is a step toward justice for Sonya’s loved ones, especially her children, who have endured unimaginable pain and suffering since they were notified of this tragedy. We remain committed to uncovering the truth of what happened and identifying the failures that allowed this tragic death to occur,” Crump said in a Wednesday release.
Massey’s funeral will be held Friday morning, according to Crump’s office.
How the shooting unfolded, according to prosecutors
Massey called 911 to report a possible “prowler,” according to the document that prosecutors filed in a court in Springfield on Thursday.
When the two responding deputies encountered Massey, she “appeared to be calm, perhaps unwell, not aggressive,” the court document said.
After entering Massey’s home, Grayson “noticed a pot on the stove, and approved of Massey removing the pot to prevent any accidental fires.” The pot “apparently contained heated water,” the court document says.
What happened next is unclear.
Massey set the pot down on a counter in the kitchen, according to the document.
Grayson, who was in the living room, then “drew his 9mm firearm and threatened to shoot Ms. Massey in the face,” according to the document.
“Seeing the drawn weapon, Ms. Massey put her hands in the air and stated, ‘I’m sorry,’ while ducking for cover behind the counter that separated her and the defendant,” the document says.
“With his firearm still drawn, Grayson went closer to Massey and aggressively yelled at her to put the pot down.”
Then, Grayson shot Massey in the face, according to the court document.
It wasn’t until after Grayson fatally shot Massey that he activated his body camera, the document says. The other deputy, who was checking the house while the dispute over the pot happened, had activated his body camera when he first arrived on scene, according to the court document.
Grayson instructed the other deputy not to retrieve a medical kit “because of the severity of the injury,” according to the court document. The other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Massey until medics arrived. Grayson “at no time attempted to render aid,” the document said. Massey was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s department has said.
The court document does not explain how prosecutors got details of the incident, but it asks the court to refer to the deputies’ body camera recordings, which prosecutors submitted as an exhibit. The document also does not explain where the other deputy was within the house when the dispute and the shooting happened.
Body camera footage to be publicly released next week
Massey’s family saw body camera footage of the incident during a meeting with prosecutors and state police on Wednesday, Milhiser said that day.
After consulting with the family, officials decided the footage will be released publicly on Monday afternoon, the prosecutor said. Nothing has been redacted “except for the blurring of certain images” out of respect, Milhiser said.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expressed gratitude Wednesday to prosecutors for bringing the “appropriate charges” in this case.
“Sonya Massey was concerned for her safety and called law enforcement to her home for protection. Like all Illinoisans, she deserved that protection. Instead, innocent and unarmed, she was gunned down by an officer of the law,” Pritzker said Wednesday in a news release.
“My heart breaks for Sonya’s children, for her family and friends and for all who knew and loved her, and I am enraged that another innocent Black woman had her life taken from her at the hands of a police officer,” the governor said.
The sheriff’s office said Wednesday that Grayson’s actions “do not reflect the values and training of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office or law enforcement as a whole,” and that it was “clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”
“Good law enforcement officers stand with our community in condemning actions that undermine the trust and safety we strive to uphold. In times like these, it is crucial for leadership across all sides and spectrums to come together to heal our community,” the office said in an online post.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
