The shocking story of Sonya Massey, Black woman killed by US police after calling 911

Horrific footage of a Black woman in America killed after calling 911 for help is going viral.

Sonya Massey, 36, was shot and killed at her home in Illinois by a sheriff’s deputy after calling to report a suspected prowler.

Massey’s death, which has caused an uproar, is just the latest example of Black people killed in recent years by police in their homes.

It comes in the backdrop of Vice President Kamala Harris is set to make history as the first African-American woman nominee of a major party – and possibly the first woman Commander-in-Chief.

In a statement released Tuesday, Harris said she is joining President Joe Biden in calling on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

“Sonya Massey deserved to be safe," Harris said. “After she called the police for help, she was tragically killed in her own home at the hands of a responding officer sworn to protect and serve. The disturbing footage released yesterday confirms what we know from the lived experiences of so many — we have much work to do to ensure that our justice system fully lives up to its name.”

But what happened to Massey?

Let’s take a closer look:

What happened?

The incident occurred in the early hours of  6 July over the Independence Day weekend.

Massey, a resident of the Cabbage Patch neighbourhood in Springfield – around 320 kilometres southeast of Chicago – called emergency services to report a possible prowler.

As per CNN, Massey met sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who is white, and his partner at her doorstep.

Bodycam footage showed the two conducting a search around Massey’s house and in surrounding yards. They found a black SUV with broken windows in an adjacent driveway before Massey came to the front door.

Massey appeared confused from the outset.

“Don’t hurt me,” she said. “Please God. “I don’t know what to do.”

Grayson and the other deputy asked Massey if she needed any assistance.

She responded, “I love ya’ll.”

Asked how she was doing mentally, she responded “yes, I took my medicine,” as per CNN.

Massey seemed confused as they spoke at the door, and she repeated that she needed help, referenced God and told them she didn’t know who owned the car.

It isn’t clear why Massey and Grayson went inside the house, followed by the other deputy.

Massey’s home in the Cabbage Patch neighbourhood, named for a huge cabbage farm there more than a century ago, has an open floor plan with the living room divided from the kitchen by a counter.

The video shows Grayson in the living room with Massey on the other side of the counter, several feet away.

Inside the house, deputies seemed exasperated as she sat on her couch and went through her purse as they asked for identification to complete a report before leaving. Then Grayson pointed out a pot sitting on a flame on the stove.

“We don’t need a fire while we’re here," he said.

Grayson asked for her name to include on a report as the deputies prepared to leave. Massey was searching her purse for ID when Grayson pointed out a pot over a flame on the stove.

Massey quickly went to the stove, moved the pan toward a sink and asked Grayson, “Where are you going?”

He had stepped back and remained in the living room of the small home, separated from her by a cluttered counter.

Grayson and Massey chuckled as he replied, “Away from your hot, steaming water.” Massey then unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

Huh?” Grayson asked.

“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she said again.

Now, Grayson drew his 9 mm pistol.

“You better f**king not or I swear to God I’ll f**king shoot you in the f**king face,” Grayson said.

Massey said “I’m sorry” while lifting the pot.

“Drop the f**king pot!” both deputies screamed.

Then, three shots were fired.

Massey was hit once in the head.

After a few seconds of silence, one deputy said ‘shots fired’ and asked for emergency services.

After Grayson shot her, Grayson discouraged his partner from grabbing a medical kit to save her.

“You can go get it, but that’s a headshot,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”

Noting that Massey was still breathing, he relented and said he would get his kit, too. The other deputy said, “We can at least try to stop the bleeding.”

“Dude, I’m not taking f**king boiling water to the f**king head. And look, it came right to our feet, too,” Grayson was heard saying, as per CNN.

Grayson did not switch on his body camera until after he shot and killed Massey

“She had boiling water and came at me with boiling water,” Grayson told another officer. “She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at (me) with boiling water.”

As per Al Jazeera, Massey was taking to HSHS St John’s Hospital emergency room.

She was pronounced dead at 1:47 am – 26 minutes after the shooting.

The family has accused the police of trying to cover up Massey’s death.

Massey’s father, James Wilburn, told CBS Mornings, “We were under the impression that she was killed by the intruder, or some other person from the street, and they just went in there and found her dead body.”

“It’s probably the most horrible, heart-wrenching thing that we’ve ever seen in our lives, but if it were not for the bodycam footage, we would not have known that this occurred,” Wilburn added.

The Guardian obtained police audio of someone at the scene of the incident describing the gunshot wound as “self-inflicted”.

“They tried to make me believe that a neighbour had did it,” said Jimmie Crawford Jr, Massey’s former partner and the father of one of her children.

Crawford claimed that police told nurses at the hospital that Massey “killed herself”.

“How do you get that confused?” he asked.

Wilburn told CBS Mornings the family is struggling to recover and that a GoFundMe account was set up for her 15-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son.

“We’re taking it day to day. They’re having a very hard time,” Wilburn added.

Massey, who was unemployed, had struggled with mental illness and undergone treatment.

That might explain her puzzling statement to Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” according to the family’s lawyer, Ben Crump.

But it also speaks to her strong religious faith, he said.

Crump said the charges were a “step toward justice for Sonya’s loved ones, especially her children, who have endured unimaginable pain and suffering since they were notified of this tragedy.”

What about Grayson?

Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges in the July 6 killing.

He was fired last week by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

He is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond.

If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, 6 to 30 years for battery and 2 to 5 years for misconduct.

Grayson is due back in court Aug. 26. He has been with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department about 18 months after serving as an officer with several other police agencies in central Illinois for about seven years before that.

The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board shows Grayson was hired part time on August 11, 2020, by the Pawnee Police Department. He also was hired part time on February 4, 2021, by the Kincaid Police Department and on May 20, 2021, by the Virden Police Department.

Two months later, he was hired full time by the Auburn Police Department and remained there until May 1, 2022, when he was hired full time by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. Grayson left Logan County on April 28, 2023, and was hired full time on May 1, 2023, by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

He received his part-time Law Enforcement Certification on June 5, 2021, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. His certification status currently reads as suspended on the board’s website.

‘Senseless loss’

In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were 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,” Biden said. “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.”

“I am enraged that another innocent Black woman had her life taken from her at the hands of a police officer,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said after the indictment.

A slew of incidents in which police have gunned down Black men and women in their homes has left people outraged.

In May, a Hispanic Florida sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Roger Fortson, when the Air Force senior airman opened the door of his home in Fort Walton Beach armed with a handgun pointed down. The deputy, Eddie Duran, was fired.

In 2019, a white Fort Worth, Texas, officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a nonemergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, the former officer, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.

In 2018, a white Dallas police officer fatally shot Botham Jean, who was unarmed, after mistaking his apartment for her own. Amber Guyger, the former officer, was convicted of murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Crump has represented families in each case as part of his effort to force accountability for the killings of Black people at the hands of police. Crump also has represented relatives of Earl Moore, a Springfield man who died after he was strapped face down on a stretcher in December 2022. Two emergency medical professionals face murder charges in that case.

With inputs from agencies