The Unjustified Killing of Sonya Massey.

36-year-old Sonya Massey fearfully ducked onto her kitchen floor, apologizing to Deputy Sean Grayson with the Springfield, Illinois Police Department, who was responding to a distressed call of a possible prowler outside the home of Massey. Grayson stands accused of murdering Massey in an incident that was caught on body cam footage by his unidentified partner. In the video, Sonya Massey is seen ducking down behind her kitchen counter with potholders in each of her hands. When she rose slightly from the floor, Grayson fired his gun, shooting Massey three times, penetrating her left eye and exiting through her left carotid artery.

Sonya Massey called 911 to report a possible intruder or suspected prowler at her property. Deputies responded to Massey's home just before 1 a.m. on July 6, 2024. Upon arriving at the home, Deputy Grayson and his unnamed partner did a perimeter check of the home, locating a black SUV with a broken window in the driveway of the home. Authorities state that it took Sonya Massey approximately three minutes to open her door and immediately said, "Don't hurt me" to the officers responding to the call. Massey was heard referencing God, and when she was asked about the SUV in the driveway, Massey stated that she did not know who owned the vehicle.

Body cam footage does not depict what occurred moments before Deputy Grayson and his unidentified partner walked into Sonya Massey's home; however, Massey was seen sitting on the couch while Deputy Grayson rummaged through her purse to find her identification. Deputy Grayson then turns his attention to the pot of boiling water sitting on an open flame on the stove. Deputy Grayson said, "We don't need a fire while we're here." Massey immediately got up and walked to the kitchen, removed the pot from the stove, and walked it towards the kitchen sink as she said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," to which Deputy Grayson replied, "You better fucking not or I swear to God, I'll shoot you in your fucking face," unholstering his pistol. Deputy Grayson further said, "Drop the fucking pot," brandishing his weapon at Massey. It is witnessed in the body cam footage that Massey ducked behind the counter, raised her hands with the oven mitts still on her hands, and said, "Ok, I'm sorry." Deputy Grayson continued to point his pistol at Massey.

Body cam footage showed that Deputy Grayson was standing in the living room while Massey was standing in the kitchen with a counter separating the two. This is said to have provided both distance and relative cover from the victim and the pot of boiling water.

Deputy Grayson unloaded three rounds into Sonya Massey that day, with Deputy Grayson's unnamed partner saying, "I'm going to go get my kit," to which Deputy Grayson replied, "No, it's a headshot. She's done. You can go get it, but that's a headshot. There's nothing you can do, man." What else do we do? I'm not taking hot fucking boiling water to the fucking face." Deputy Grayson is heard over the cam footage admitting the victim was still breathing, despite being shot in the face and losing a lot of blood. Three minutes and six seconds went by before Deputy Grayson decided that he, too, would retrieve his med kit from his car. Grayson's partner said, "We can at least try to stop the bleeding."

Once backup arrived, Deputy 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." When the responding Officer asked where the gun was, Grayson said Massey was unarmed, and when asked if he shot Massey, Grayson was heard saying, "Yeah."

Deputy Grayson has been fired from the Department and was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Currently, Grayson is being held without bail at the Sangamon County Jail, where he will remain until his trial in November. If convicted of all charges, Grayson faces 45 years to life for Massey's murder, 6 to 30 years for aggravated battery, and 2 to 5 years for official misconduct. However, Grayson's lawyer, Daniel Pultz, has declined any comment.

The Illinois Attorney General, Kwame Raoul, stated, "The body camera footage is horrific, and I offer my 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." President Joe Biden said, "He and the first lady, Jill Biden, are praying for Massey's family as they face this unthinkable and senseless loss. "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 death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not."