On July 6, Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old resident of Springfield, Illinois, called 911 to report a prowler at her home. Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy responded around 1:50 a.m. Half an hour later, Grayson fatally shot Massey in the face. His justification for that use of deadly force was so implausible that last week he was fired and charged with first-degree murder.
Body camera video released on Monday illuminates the circumstances of the shooting, which President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris publicly condemned this week. After searching the property and finding no intruders, Grayson and his colleague repeatedly knock on Massey’s door. It takes a while for her to respond, and she explains that she was getting dressed. Her demeanor is calm, but she is behaving oddly. “Please don’t hurt me,” she says after opening the door. She says she heard “somebody outside my house,” adding, “Please God, please God” as she looks at her cellphone.
Grayson explains that he and the other deputy did not see any sign of a prowler. “Please God, please God,” Massey says. “I’m trying to get help….Please God, please God. I don’t know what to do….I heard somebody outside.” Grayson reiterates that no one is there, and he seems on the verge of leaving, asking, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Then he asks, “You doing all right mentally?” Massey, who according to The Independent “reportedly suffered from mental illness,” says “yes” and mentions “my medicine.”
Grayson asks Massey for her ID and follows her into her house as she goes to get it. The other deputy also enters the house and looks around, perhaps continuing to search for an intruder. Sitting on the couch in her living room, Massey grabs her purse, then gets distracted, saying, “I’ve got some paperwork.” Grayson tries to get her to focus on retrieving her ID. “I just need your name,” he says, “so we can get out of here….Just a driver’s license will do, and I can get out of your hair.”
Then things take a weird turn. Grayson points to a pot of boiling water on the stove in the kitchen adjoining the living room, saying, “We don’t need a fire while we’re here.” Massey responds by walking into the kitchen and removing the pot from the stove. Massey, who is in the living room, on the other side of a kitchen counter, evidently backs up, because Massey says, “Where are you going?” Laughing, Grayson refers to “the hot, steaming water,” and Massey jocularly observes that he wants to get “away from the hot, steaming water.” After putting the pot down on a counter, Massey calmly but bizarrely says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” which she repeats after Grayson says, “What?”
At that point, Grayson’s amusement instantly turns to alarm. “You better fucking not,” he says, putting his hand on his gun. “I swear to God, I’ll shoot you in the fucking face.” Then he draws his gun and points it at Massey, who flinches and picks up the pot again, holding it in front of her head, apparently as a shield. “OK, I’m sorry,” she says before ducking behind the counter, still holding the pot. “Drop the fucking pot!” Grayson shouts. A few seconds later, Grayson fires three rounds, one of which strikes Massey in the head.
After the shooting, the other deputy says, “I’m going to go get my kit,” meaning he intends to render medical aid. “Nah, it’s a head shot, dude,” Grayson replies. “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a head shot. Goddamn it. Fuck. I’m not taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head. It fucking came right to our feet too. Goddamn it….What else do we do? I’m not taking hot boiling water to the fucking face, and it already reached us.”
As other officers arrive, Grayson tells one: “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.”
Grayson later reiterated to investigators that he was defending himself against the threat posed by the pot of hot water. But as First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Rodgers notes in a July 18 petition to deny Grayson pretrial release, “the pot was located in another room of the home, separated by a large counter,” and Grayson was “still in the living room area.” Yet “despite his distance and relative cover,” Grayson “drew his 9mm firearm, not the less lethal TASER located on his duty vest, and threatened to shoot Ms. Massey in the face.”
Massey “put her hands in the air and stated, ‘I’m sorry,’ while ducking for cover behind the counter that separated her” from the deputy, Rodgers says. Massey, “with his firearm still drawn, proceeded to close the gap between him and Ms. Massey” and “aggressively yelled at Ms. Massey to put the pot down.” He “then fired his duty weapon in the direction of Ms. Massey, striking her in the face one time.”
A use-of-force expert that the Illinois State Police consulted during its investigation of the shooting, Rodgers notes, concluded that Grayson “was NOT justified in his use of deadly force.” The expert “likened the scenario to an officer intentionally and unnecessarily putting himself in front of a moving vehicle and then justifying use of force because of fear of being struck.”
Because Massey was black and Grayson is white, the incident has provoked commentary about racial bias in policing. “Sonya Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young Black woman, should be alive today,” Biden said on Monday. “Sonya called the police because she was concerned about a potential intruder. 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.
Sonya’s tragic death at the hands of a responding officer serves as a stark reminder of the fears Black Americans often face for their safety, a reality that many of us do not fully comprehend.
The following day, Harris, the presumed 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, suggested that Grayson’s response to the situation may have been different if Massey had been white. Harris stated in a written message, “Sonya Massey deserved to be safe. After seeking help from the police, she was tragically killed in her own home by an officer who was supposed to protect and serve… Our hearts also go out to communities across the country whose pleas for assistance are met with suspicion, distrust, and sometimes violence. The disturbing video footage released yesterday confirms what many have experienced firsthand – there is much work to be done to ensure that our justice system truly lives up to its name.”
Regardless of the reasons behind Grayson perceiving Massey as a threat that warranted a lethal response, it is evident from the body camera footage that his perception did not align with reality. The pot of water did not pose a deadly threat, and Grayson could have handled the situation without resorting to gunfire. As Rodgers points out, Grayson escalated the situation by approaching Massey with his gun drawn instead of maintaining a safe distance.
According to Illinois law, a person who unlawfully kills another individual may be charged with first-degree murder if they intend to cause death or great bodily harm, or if they know their actions will result in death or serious harm. Grayson, who also faces charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct, could be sentenced to 45 years to life if convicted.
Grayson’s reckless actions raise concerns about how someone with such poor judgment was employed by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, where he had worked for just over a year. Grayson has had employment stints at various law enforcement agencies in recent years, including brief periods at multiple police departments and the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to his questionable employment history, Grayson has been arrested twice for DUI offenses. Despite these red flags, he was still hired as a deputy in Sangamon County, as noted by Massey’s father, James Wilburn.
This case emphasizes the importance of body camera footage in holding law enforcement officers accountable. The video evidence contradicted Grayson’s account of the events, exposing his unjustified use of deadly force. Without the video, his actions might have been deemed justified, highlighting the crucial role of transparency in police accountability.
