Bodycam footage showing the scene where Sonya Massey was shot by Deputy Sean Grayson
Springfield, Illinois: Sonya Massey had bent down and said sorry to an Illinois sheriff’s deputy before the man shot the black woman three times; the fatal shot made her head explode, as seen from the body camera footage that was released on Monday.
A grand jury in central Illinois charged former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, who is white, last week. He has rationalized himself by denying the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.
The video also provided a version of the incident described by the prosecutors, when Grayson shouted some words to Massey from across a counter, commanding him to put down the hot water pot. He then threatened to shoot her. He peeped, and the moment she stood up, Grayson fired his pistol at her.
Officials stated that Massey, 36, had dialed 911 to complain of a suspicious person in his compound. The video records the two deputies arrival at about 1 a.m. on July 6 at the house of the woman located in Springfield, which is 200 miles southwest of Chicago. They first strolled around the house; there was a black SUV with broken windows in the middle of the driveway.
Again, after three minutes of deputies’ knocking, Massey opened the door and she right away said to the deputies, “Don’t hurt me. ”
Finally, as they were speaking with her at the door, She appeared to be puzzled and once again demanded assistance, mentioned God and stated that she could not recognize who the owner of the car was.
free wi-fi and beer inside the house, deputies appeared frustrated as she sat on the couch rummaging through her purse when they asked for her ID to fill out a report and then leave. Next, he said there was a pot that was standing on the flame on the stove.
They are words uttered by a man all dressed in black with a vanilla cigarette permanently glued to his lips as he stepped aside to hover menacingly over two chairs at the corner of E 6th and Liberty Sts., Austin, TX, USA.
Massey said and got up from the chair immediately, proceeded to the stove and shifted the pot closer to a sink. They both manage to chuckle over the pan of ‘steaming hot water’ she’d prepared for Grayson before she ceases to warn with a portend, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. ”
We had to take a break, then he said: You better (expletive) not or I swear to God, I’ll (expletive) shoot you in your (expletive) face.” He pulled his 9mm pistol and told her to drop the pot.
Massey said, “OK, I’m sorry. ” Grayson shot his weapon at her while captured by the body camera. She bent and put her hands up.
Massey did not allow Grayson to go near the dead body; Grayson remained in the living room, staring at Massey when they were confronted, and when the fight began, they were separated by a long counter between the living room and kitchen. Crown attorneys have also said that having his arms restrained gave Grayson both space and partial concealment from Massey and the boiling water.
Prior to shooting her, which he did in an attempt to stop her from getting into the car, Grayson prevented his accomplice from retrieving a first aid kit to heal her fatally wounded abdomen.
Including, “You can go get it, but it’s a headshot. There is nothing you can do, man.
He added: ‘What else do we do? I am not taking boiling hot (expletive) water to a (expletive) face’
Paying attention to the fact that Massey had not ceased to breathe, he agreed and said he would fetch his kit as well Then, the other deputy added: “We can at least try to stop the bleeding.
Grayson informed the arriving police officers, “She had boiling water and came at me with boiling water She was threatening to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at me with boiling water. ”
Family and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Grayson’s given reasons are a “rehash” and “revisionist history,” calling him “disingenuous. ”
“She needed help with her hands,” Crump said of Massey before railing against law enforcement for failing to protect Black women from violence.
When told that in the video Grayson was accused, Massey said, ‘In the name of Jesus,
I rebuke you,’ Crump said that Massey had been treated for mental health illnesses. He said that she mentioned God’s name from the beginning of the incident and requested her Bible after the deputies got into her house.
At the funeral on Friday, Crump said he and the family had watched the video and it would ‘ Jaw dropped’ stun the conscience of America. ”
The myopic view that Massey’s father, James Wilburn, had in the circumstances was that the county court system should proceed with complete openness in its exercise of investigation and prosecution as well as in sharing of information with the public.
Wilburn said, “It will only be a time when I will be able to see my baby if I am to die”. Indeed, the words of the president of the American Medical Association when he said: “And I do not wish to see any more people in United States to join this league. ”
Sullivan was terminated last week, and he is detained at the Sangamon County Jail with no bond. Should he be convicted, he risks getting a life term for murder, 6 to 30 years for battery and misconduct for 2 to 5 years.
Daniel Fultz the lawyer representing him, refrained from speaking on Monday.
Speaking in a statement, President Joe Biden stated that he and the first lady, Mrs. Jill Baba, were praying for the family of Massey in this ‘unsustainable and unnecessary tragedy. ’
“When we dial 911, all of us as Americans—black, white, Latino, living in the cities, in the suburbs or in the rural areas—should be equally fearless,“ Biden pointed out. “Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer makes me remember that the ordinary Black American family feels threatened in a way that many others cannot. ”
The recent violence, which turned fatal for Massey, is part of the tradition of black deaths by police officers in recent years at their homes.
In May a Hispanic Florida sheriff’s deputy shot to death Roger Fortson,
an Air Force senior airman, after Fortson answered the door of his Fort Walton Beach home with a handgun pointed at the floor. The deputy, Eddie Duran, was dismissed.
officer from fort Worth, Texas, killed Attiana Jefferson through a rear window in October 2019 after responding to a non-emergency call concerning opened door belonging to Jefferson. Former officer Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter and received a prison term of approximately 11 years, 10 months.
In 2018, a white police officer in Dallas shot dead Botham Jean, who was not armed. In the confusion, the police officer entered the wrong apartment. Former officer Amber Guyger was charged for murder and was given a penalty of ten years imprisonment.
Crump has represented families in each case as part of his campaign to hold police accountable for the murders of black people. Crump has also represented the family of Earl Moore.
a Springfield man who died after being strapped face down on a stretcher in December 2022. In that case, two emergency medical workers have been charged with murder.
ALSO READ : US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Faces Bipartisan Calls for Resignation
