In the early morning of July 6, Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old resident of Springfield, Illinois, called 911 to report someone wandering into her home. Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy responded around 1:50 a.m., and a half-hour later Grayson shot Massey in the face. His justification for using deadly force was so implausible that last week he was fired and charged with first-degree murder.
Body camera video released Monday sheds light on the shooting, which President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris publicly condemned this week. After searching the house and finding no intruder, Grayson and his colleagues knocked repeatedly on Massey’s door. It took her a moment to react and explain that she was getting dressed. Her expression was calm, but her behavior was strange. “Please don’t hurt me,” she said after opening the door. She said she heard “someone outside my house,” adding, “Please God, please God,” as she looked at her phone.
Grayson explained that he and another deputy saw no sign of the prowler. “God bless, God bless,” Messi said. “I’m asking for help… God, God. I don’t know what to do… I heard someone outside.” Grayson reiterated that no one was there, and he seemed to be about to leave, asking, “What else do I have? Can I do it for you?” Then he asked: “Are you in good spirits?” Messi, according to independent “Reportedly mentally ill,” say “yes” and mention “my medication.”
Grayson asked Macy for her ID and followed her into the home as she went to get it. Another officer also entered the house and looked around, perhaps continuing to look for the intruder. Macy sat on the couch in the living room, grabbed her wallet, and said absently, “I have some papers.” Grayson tried to get her to focus on getting her ID. “All I need is your name,” he said, “so we can get out of here…just a driver’s license and I can get out of your way.”
Then things took a strange turn. Grayson pointed to a pot of boiling water on the kitchen stove next to the living room and said, “We don’t need a fire here.” Macy responded by walking into the kitchen and taking the pot off the stove. Macy was in the living room, on the other side of the kitchen counter, and apparently took a step back as Macy said, “Where are you going?” Grayson laughed and mentioned “steaming water,” while Macy humorously pointed out He wanted to “get away from the steaming water.” After placing the pot on the counter, Macy said quietly but strangely, “I blame you in the name of Jesus.” She repeated the words after Grayson said, “What?”
At this moment, Grayson’s interest immediately turned to panic. “You better not fucking do that,” he said, putting his hand on the gun. “I swear to God, I’m going to shoot you in the fucking face.” He then pulled out the gun and pointed it at Messi, who flinched and picked up the pot again, holding it in front of his head, apparently as a shield. “Okay, I’m sorry,” she said, ducking behind the counter, still holding the pot. “Throw your fucking pot away!” Grayson yelled. Seconds later, Grayson fired three rounds, one of which hit Messi in the head.
After the shooting, another officer said, “I’m going to get my kit,” meaning he intended to provide medical assistance. “No, it’s a headshot, man,” Grayson replied. “She’s done. You can go get it, but it’s a shot in the head. Damn it. Damn it. I’m not going to put boiling water on my fucking head. It went right to our fucking feet too. Damn it. …What else can we do? “Should we do this?” I’m not going to throw scalding water in your fucking face, it’s already upon us. “
When other officers arrived, Grayson told one of them: “She came up to me with boiling water… She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and then came to me.” [me] Use boiling water.
Grayson later reiterated to investigators that he was protecting himself from the kettle. But as First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Rodgers noted in her July 18 petition to deny Grayson’s pretrial release, “the pot was located in another room of the home, separated by a large counter.” , while Grayson “was still in the living room area. However, “despite the distance and relative concealment,” Grayson “drew his 9mm firearm instead of the less-lethal Taser on his duty vest , and threatened to shoot Ms. Macy in the face.
Rogers said Macy “put his hands up and said ‘I’m sorry’ while ducking behind the counter to separate her from the deputy.” Macy “still had his gun drawn and began to close the gap between him and Ms. Macy.” , and “yelled at Ms. Macy to put the pot down.” He “then fired in the direction of Ms. Macy, striking her in the face.”
Rogers noted that a use-of-force expert consulted by Illinois State Police during their investigation of the shooting concluded that Grayson’s “use of deadly force was unjustified.” The expert “likened the situation to a police officer intentionally and unnecessarily placing himself in front of a moving vehicle and then justifying the use of force out of fear of being hit.”
Because Macy is black and Grayson is white, the incident prompted comments about racial bias in policing. “Sonia Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young black woman, should be alive today,” Biden said Monday. “Sonia called the police because she was concerned about a potential intruder. When we ask for help, we all—no matter who we are or where we live—should be able to do so without fearing for our lives. Sonia’s death is a reminder in the hands of a responding police officer. , Black Americans often face fears for their safety that the rest of us don’t.
The next day, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Harris similarly suggested Grayson would have handled the situation differently if Macy were white. “Sonia Macy deserves to be safe,” Harris said in a written statement. “After she asked police for help, she was killed in her home by an officer sworn to protect and serve… Our thoughts are also with communities across the country whose calls for help are often met with skepticism, distrust, and even violence.” .
Even without speculating on why exactly Grayson believed Messi posed a threat that warranted a lethal response, it’s clear to anyone watching the body camera footage that his perception didn’t match reality. As far as the danger from the jug of water was concerned, it was not a mortal threat and he could neutralize it without firing a gun. Instead, as Rodgers observed, he amplified the threat by approaching Messi with his gun drawn when he could have kept a safe distance.
Under Illinois law, “a person is guilty of first-degree murder when he or she kills a person without lawful justification” when “he or she intends to kill the person or to cause great bodily harm to the person” and “knows If convicted, Grayson is also charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct. He faces 45 years to life in prison.
Grayson’s senseless act of violence raises the question of how a man with such poor judgment ended up employed by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked for more than a year. According to WGN9, Grayson “worked for six different law enforcement agencies over the past four years.” His employment record includes less than a year with the Auburn, Illinois, Police Department, one year with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, and brief stints with the Virden, Kinkaid and Pawnee Police Departments.
This employment experience isn’t the only red flag. WGN reports: “Grayson has been arrested twice for Class A misdemeanor DUI, once in 2015 and once in 2016.” “There were all these red flags,” said James Wilburn, Macy’s father. “But they still appointed him to the House of Representatives. [Sangamon] county.
The case also highlights the value of body camera video. If Grayson’s account of what happened is accurate, the film will bear it out. But because the footage clearly contradicts his claim that Messi “rushed me with boiling water,” he could be held accountable for the unprovoked use of deadly force that might otherwise have been justified.
