Early in the morning on July 6, Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old resident of Springfield, Illinois, called 911 to report a prowler at her home.
Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy responded around 1:50 a.m.
This from reason.com.
Half an hour later, Grayson fatally shot Massey in the face. His justification for that use of deadly force seemed implausible from what is available on the body camera video. He has been charged with first-degree murder.
Body camera video released Monday illuminates the shooting.
After searching the property and finding no intruders, Grayson and his colleague repeatedly knock on Massey’s door. After she responds she explains she was getting dressed. Her demeanor is calm, but she is behaving oddly.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she said after opening the door.
She said she heard “somebody outside my house,” adding, “Please God, please God” as she looks at her cellphone.
Grayson explains that he and the other deputy did not see any sign of a prowler.
“Please God, please God,” Massey said. “I’m trying to get help….Please God, please God. I don’t know what to do….I heard somebody outside.”
Grayson reiterated that no one is there, and he seems on the verge of leaving, and asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Then he asked, “You doing all right mentally?”
Massey, who according to The Independent “reportedly suffered from mental illness,” said “yes” and mentioned “my medicine.”
Grayson asked Massey for her ID and followed her into her house as she went to get it. The other deputy also entered the house and looked around, perhaps continued to search for an intruder. Sitting on the couch in her living room, Massey grabbed her purse, then became distracted and said, “I’ve got some paperwork.” Grayson tried to get her to focus on retrieving her ID. “I just need your name,” he said, “so we can get out of here….Just a driver’s license will do, and I can get out of your hair.”
Then Grayson pointed to a pot of boiling water on the stove in the kitchen adjoining the living room said, “We don’t need a fire while we’re here.”
Massey responded by walking into the kitchen and removing the pot from the stove. Massey, who is in the living room, on the other side of a kitchen counter, evidently backed up, because Massey said, “Where are you going?” Laughing, Grayson referred to “the hot, steaming water,” and Massey jocularly observed that he wants to get “away from the hot, steaming water.” After putting the pot down on a counter, Massey calmly but bizarrely said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” which she repeated after Grayson said, “What?”
At that point, Grayson’s amusement instantly turned to alarm. “You better fucking not,” he said, putting his hand on his gun. “I swear to God, I’ll shoot you in the fucking face.” Then he drew his gun and pointed it at Massey, who flinched and picked up the pot again.
“OK, I’m sorry,” she said before ducking behind the counter, still holding the pot. “Drop the fucking pot!” Grayson shouted. A few seconds later, Grayson fired three rounds, one of which struck Massey in the head.
After the shooting, the other deputy said, “I’m going to go get my kit,” meaning he intended to render medical aid. “Nah, it’s a head shot, dude,” Grayson replied. “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a head shot. Goddamn it. Fuck. I’m not taking fucking boiling water to the fucking head. It fucking came right to our feet too. Goddamn it….What else do we do? I’m not taking hot boiling water to the fucking face, and it already reached us.”
As other officers arrive, Grayson told one: “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.”
Grayson later stated to investigators that he was defending himself against the threat posed by the pot of hot water.
As First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Rodgers noted in a July 18 petition to deny Grayson pretrial release, “the pot was located in another room of the home, separated by a large counter,” and Grayson was “still in the living room area.” Yet “despite his distance and relative cover,” Grayson “drew his 9mm firearm, not the less lethal TASER located on his duty vest, and threatened to shoot Ms. Massey in the face.”
Under Illinois law, “a person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits first degree murder” when “he or she either intends to kill or do great bodily harm to that individual,” “knows that such acts will cause death to that individual,” or “knows that such acts create a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to that individual.” If convicted, Grayson, who was also charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct, faces a sentence of 45 years to life.
As reported by WGN9, Grayson’s employment history was a critical warning sign.
This case highlights the importance of body camera video. If Grayson’s account of what happened had been accurate, the video would have confirmed it.
Addendum: Self-defense lawyer Andrew Branca cited a few seconds of silent video from Grayson’s body camera, which he activated immediately before shooting Massey. It shows her rising up, lifting the pot, and spilling the water, which lands on the floor between her and Grayson. But that happened after Grayson cornered her at gunpoint, threatening to shoot her in the face. His decision to approach her instead of keeping his distance and his decision to use his gun rather than his Taser still seem unjustifiable.
Police throughout Illinois are on high alert. May God keep them safe.
