Body Camera Footage to Be Released in Fatal Shooting of Black Woman by Deputy
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office will make public body camera footage on Monday, showing an Illinois deputy shooting a Black woman after she contacted emergency services to report an intruder.
The footage will be made available just days after former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, was arraigned in Sangamon County Court on three counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count of aggravated battery with a firearm and another of official misconduct, according to . The release of the footage was previously scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.
Grayson’s arraignment followed a few weeks after 36-year-old Sonya Massey was shot and killed in her Springfield home by Grayson after calling the police to report an intruder. Grayson pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Massey’s family has retained renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who on Friday that the footage would depict a crime comparable to the lynching of Chicago teenager Emmett Till in Mississippi, the Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald, and the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
In the early hours of July 6, Grayson and another deputy responded to Massey’s house after she had called 911 about a prowler, (though they didn’t name Grayson or Massey at the time). Grayson pulled out his gun and threatened to shoot Massey, yelling at her to put down a pot of boiling water after she had calmly allowed them to enter her home, according to . He then fired the gun three times, striking Massey once. Massey was unarmed. While Grayson hadn’t activated his body-worn camera until after he fired the gun, the other deputy had his camera on the entire time.
That deputy, whose name has not been revealed, said he was going to get a medical kit from his vehicle. But Grayson told him not to because Massey’s injuries were so severe, according to the documents. The other deputy rendered aid to Massey until an ambulance arrived. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said in a on July 8 that preliminary findings of an autopsy reveal that Massey died from a gunshot wound.
Illinois State Police investigated the incident, and Grayson was later dismissed from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, the office announced Wednesday. The office also expressed regret to Massey’s family and friends, calling the shooting a “tragic incident.”
“It is clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a . “The actions taken by Deputy Grayson do not reflect the values and training of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office or law enforcement as a whole.”
Massey’s was held on Friday at Ruby Funeral Services and Chapel in Springfield.
“Today is about peace, today is about my big sister. It’s not about that man that’s gonna rot in jail, it’s about my big sister,” Massey’s younger sister, Breeanna Toles, at the service.
Massey’s family for the first time on Wednesday. Massey’s death has gained national attention and sparked protests in Springfield. On Wednesday, about at the Springfield NAACP building to express solidarity with Massey and her family.
Grayson was remanded to the custody of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office while awaiting trial, according to court records. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
Crump will be holding a press conference after the footage is released Monday at 4:45 EST.
This is a developing news story.