Justice Department to Investigate Police Killing of Sonya Massey

Around midnight on July 6, a Black woman named Sonya Massey called the police for help, after believing there was an intruder in her Springfield, Illinois, home. Two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly after, and within minutes of entering Massey's home, one of the deputies—a 30-year-old white man named Sean Grayson—shot and killed Massey in her kitchen. The 36-year-old mom is survived by two teenage children. On Tuesday, one day after the sheriff's office released chilling body camera footage from the incident, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into Massey's killing. Crump, who represents Massey's family and rose to national prominence by representing the families of other police brutality victims including George Floyd, called the investigation "welcome," but expressed reservations as we don't yet "know what the scope [of the investigation] is," only that the DOJ has "opened an investigation file on Massey" as of this week. Last week, a Sangamon County grand jury indicted Grayson on three counts of first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. Grayson pleaded not guilty on all charges and remains in custody without bail. Grayson has also been fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department, which said in a July 17 announcement, “It is clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards." TW: Officials have released body camera footage showing the events leading up to deputy Sean Grayson shooting and killing Sonya Massey after she called the police for help https://t.co/TMYFycH8jU pic.twitter.com/HVrVkc9Hls — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 22, 2024 The body camera footage shared with the public this week has reignited fresh outrage with how Grayson and his fellow officer treated Massey. At first, the officers ask Massey for her name and assure her she's "not in trouble." The mood in the room shifts when Grayson points out a pot of boiling water on the stove: “We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” he says. Massey goes to turn off the pot, then picks it up to pour the water into the sink. As the deputies begin to back away from Massey, she calmly asks them, "Where are you going?" The deputies answer that they're moving away from her "steaming water." Masseys says, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," while pouring the water into the sink. The officers seem to think she means to pour the hot water on them, but even still, there's significant distance between them and she isn't coming toward them. “You better fucking not, or I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you in the fucking face,” Grayson says. He draws his gun and points it at her; she lifts the pot, ducks, and apologizes, clearly making no move to attack or threaten the officers. Grayson appears to fire three shots. At that point, one of the deputies reports the "shots fired" and calls for EMS, but Grayson tells him, “Nah, she’s done. You can go get [your kit], but that’s a head shot. Dude, I’m not taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head. And look, it came right to our feet, too.” Paramedics then arrived to take Massey to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Body cam footage released Monday shows the shocking moments when Sonya Massey was fatally shot in the face by a deputy after she called 911 for help. Violence against Black women MUST STOP! We must demand FULL JUSTICE for Sonya Massey! pic.twitter.com/FlAiuCiSg0 — Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 23, 2024 Since the shooting, Massey’s family shared that she…