Shocking bodycam footage shows police shooting black woman dead in her home after she rang 911
23 July 2024, 10:25 | Updated: 23 July 2024, 10:30
The bodycam footage of a black woman getting shot by a white police officer after she had called 911 for help has been released by Illinois State Police.
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Sonya Massey, 36, was shot and killed on 6 July after removing a pot of boiling water from the stove at the officers’ request, after she reported a suspected prowler.
The release of the footage was delayed at the request of Massey's family, but was published on Monday afternoon to the Illinois State Police's YouTube account.
Footage shows horror moment Illinois police deputy fatally shoots Sonya Massey
It shows two deputies arriving on Massey's doorstep in Springfield, to check that her home was secure after she called for help around 1am.
About 21 minutes later, Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson is seen on his partner's body cam drawing his weapon before pointing the 9mm pistol at Massey.
Grayson told Massey to drop a pot of boiling water that she was holding.
Massey ducked and said “I'm sorry,” before Grayson fired three shots, one of which struck her in the face. Massey was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The altercation began when Grayson noticed the pot on the stove and asked his partner to check it out saying: “We don't need a fire while we're here.”
Prosecutors say Grayson “aggressively yelled” at Massey to move it from the stove to the counter.
She then appeared to take it off the stove and told Grayson: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
This is when Grayson pulled out his handgun and said: “I swear to God I'll shoot you in your f***king face.”
Both officers had their weapons pointed and ordered Massey to drop the pot. She apologised for what she said and ducked behind a counter.
Grayson, who was standing about 10 to 15 feet away, then went around the corner of the counter to regain visual contact with Massey as he tried to tell her to drop the pot, but cut himself off and opened fire.
He then yelled: “I can't take hot boiling water to the f**king face.”
Grayson would later go on to call Massey “f**king crazy,” the body camera footage shows.After Massey was killed, prosecutors said Grayson discouraged the other deputy from getting his medical kit and made no attempt to help Massey.
“The other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Ms. Massey until medical help arrived,” First Assistant State's Attorney Mary Rodgers wrote.
She added that Grayson “at no time attempted to render aid to Ms. Massey.”
When more police arrived, Grayson said: “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.”
However, the deputy refused to turn on his own body camera until after he had already shot Massey.
On Monday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul called the footage “horrific,” adding that he is offering his “deepest sympathy to Sonya Massey's family as they relive a moment no family should experience.”
“As the community reacts to the release of the footage, I urge calm as this matter works its way through the criminal justice system,” he said.
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Sheriff Jack Campbell has said that Grayson “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards” and his actions “do not reflect the values and training of the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office or law enforcement as a whole.”
Grayson, who had been in law enforcement since August 2020, has since been fired and charged with three counts of first degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Grayson will be held in jail until he faces trial, after a county judge agreed on Thursday that he is a risk to the community, according to News Channel 20, and if convicted, he could face life in prison.
Massey's family held funeral services for her on Friday, where they were accompanied by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of George Floyd among many other black police shooting victims.
Crump’s personal injury firm released a statement Monday morning, revealing that the Massey family would be speaking “with several national leaders on Monday.”
Discussing the bodycam footage, he said: “It is a very disturbing video. It will shock America's conscience.
“It is that senseless, that unnecessary, that unjustifiable, that unconstitutional.”
