Poppy Bilderbeck
Warning: This article contains discussion of racial discrimination and contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
Sonya Massey's dad has spoken out about why the body-camera footage is so important, given what he was initially told had happened.
Sonya Massey, 36, was shot dead by a police officer after calling authorities to her house for help, in fear of a suspected intruder.
The horrific footage was shared to YouTube by Illinois State Police and Sonya's father has since spoken out about it being the 'most horrible heart-wrenching thing that we've ever seen', while calling for some sort of justice for his daughter.
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On July 7, Sonya - a Black woman - called police to her home in Springfield, Illinois because she was worried someone was lurking around her house and potentially breaking in.
Deputy Sean Grayson of the Sangamon Country Sheriff's Office and another officer - both white - showed up at her property, reassuring Sonya they were 'not going to hurt' her.
As Sonya went to take a boiling pot of water off the stove, Grayson threatened to shoot her in her 'f**king face'.
Despite Sonya apologising and beginning to drop to her knees, three shots were fired at Sonya - a mom-of-two - who was shot in the head and killed.
Body-camera footage was released online showing exactly what happened that night and Sonya's father, James Wilburn, has since opened up about why he's grateful it was publicly released, despite being 'heart-wrenching' to watch, and why 'without it' he believes the truth of what happened may never have been revealed.
Wilburn told CBS Mornings: "She was one of my four daughters, I don't think that looking at that tape with my whole heart before 2022, I had quadruple heart bypass surgery and I suffer from congestive heart failure, but I don't think my whole heart could've taken this."
The father claims he was 'never told it was a deputy involved in the shooting', initially being led to believe Sonya had been 'killed by the intruder or some person from the street', and the police 'just went in there and found here dead body'.
He continued: "I did not find out the deputy killed her until my brother asked for Sonya's address and I gave it to him and he said, 'Brother this says deputy's involved.'
"[...] We were all misled to believe that - and then there was a story that was a self-inflicted gunshot. So I think the cover-up started from just right after it happened and thank God for the body-camera footage."
The father resolved: "It's probably one of the most horrible and heart-wrenching that we've ever seen in our lives, but if it were not for the body-cam footage, we would not have known that this occurred."
James believes Sonya told the deputy she'd 'rebuke [him] in the name of Jesus' because she 'feared for her life'.
"There was something, some premonition that she had, and it seems like he was just an emissary of Satan and that's what caused him to do what he did. It's just unexplainable," he said.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump - who is representing the Massey family and represented George Floyd's family - added: "In 2024, I believe it's going to be the Sonya Massey shooting video that galvanizes people in our community to act, because as Mr. James said, this so-called police officer should have never been on the sheriff's force. He had two DUIs and he had went from multiple police departments ... and that is a question, why was he even on the force?"
Former deputy Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up for in Sonya's honor to help provide her family with financial support as they 'work to pursue justice'.
UNILAD has contacted Sangamon Country Sheriff's Office and Illinois State Police for comment.