Authorities on Monday released police body camera video showing the deadly shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Springfield woman, that occurred during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home.
The July 6 incident left Massey dead and prompted first-degree murder charges against former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson. Authorities said Massey, who is Black, called 911 in the early morning hours to report a suspected prowler.
Deputies with the sheriff's office responded to the scene and spent several minutes searching through nearby yards, body-worn footage showed. The Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office released multiple edited video segments, totaling approximately 35 minutes, on Monday as questions surrounding the incident continued to mount.
Around 5 minutes and 30 seconds into the footage, deputies are seen knocking on the front door of the home - at one point claiming they hear a phone ringing and say the woman is refusing to come to the door.
Massey opened the door approximately four minutes later, explaining that there was someone outside her house.
She then says, "Please God, please God, please."
The two deputies who responded to the call explain they searched the area and didn't find anyone, to which Massey replies, "Please God , please God, I'm trying to get help, ya'll."
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The deputies then ask — multiple times — what Massey needs help with and the Springfield woman replies she heard somebody outside. The deputies ask why Massey took so long to answer the door and question if she's doing alright mentally — to which the 36-year-old says "yes" and explains she was getting dressed. The deputies then ask for her name and follow her into the house.
While Grayson talks to Massey, the other deputy's body camera shows him searching different rooms of the home. The deputies then ask for her ID so they "can then get out of her hair."
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When Massey insists she wants to show them unspecified paperwork, they again ask for her ID. After receiving permission from Grayson, Massey then walks over to her stove, grabs a boiling pot of water sitting on top of it and asks the deputies, "Where are you going?"
"...Away from your hot steaming water," the other deputy said.
"I rebuke you in the name of Jesus... I rebuke you," Massey replied.
"You better f------ not, I swear I'll f------- shoot you in your f------ face," Grayson said.
Massey replies she was sorry and ducks for cover as the deputies yell multiple times for her to drop the pot. Then three shots ring out. Following the shooting, the second deputy says he is going to get his emergency kit to render aid, but Grayson discourages him.
"Not with a head shot..." he says on body camera video. "She's done. You can go get it, but that's a head shot."
Grayson, speaking to his partner, says he wasn't going to "take hot, boiling water to the f------ face."
Despite being told not to get his medical kit, Grayson's partner walks over to Massey and attempts to stop the bleeding, saying she was shot in what appeared to be the eye.
"She's still gasping a little bit," he can be heard saying as he holds a rag to her head while Grayson appears to say in the background he's "not going to waste" his medical kit.
If convicted, Grayson faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.
Following the video's release, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued a statement calling the body camera footage "horrific."
"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," Raoul stated, in part. "As the community reacts to the release of the footage, I urge calm as this matter works its way through the criminal justice system."
Raoul added it appears the investigation by the Illinois State Police and the subsequent referral to the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s office "have complied with the letter and spirit of the law by providing the appropriate transparency and moving toward accountability.”
