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Warning: This article contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
Body-cam footage has revealed the moment a Black woman was fatally shot by police after calling 911 in fear of a home intruder.
On July 6 at 12:50am, 36-year-old Sonya Massey called police to her home in Springfield, Illinois in the US, because she was worried that someone was lurking around her house and potentially breaking in.
However, instead of helping her, a video recorded from an official body-cam has revealed Sonya being shot at three times by a member of the police and passing away as a result of her injuries.
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The footage - posted to YouTube by Illinois State Police - shows officers approaching Sonya's house, calling out that they're from the sheriff's office she phoned.
As Sonya opens the door, she tells the officials - one of who is deputy Sean Grayson of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office - to 'please not hurt' her and the police officials reassure her: "We're not going to hurt you, you called us."
Sonya - who's been confirmed by her daughter as having paranoid-schizophrenia - explains that she heard 'somebody outside [her] house' and repeats, 'Please God' alongside asking the officers for help.
The officials - who are both white - confirm they've checked around Sonya's house and haven't found anything, checking if she's doing 'alright mentally' and Sonya replies she's 'taken' her 'medicine' and says she 'loves' them.
Police decide to check on the car in Sonya's driveway, which she says she doesn't recognize and while calling it in, they go inside her house to wait, a body-camera showing one official checking with a torch inside a room, before turning back to show Sonya seated and Grayson standing in front of her.
Sonya then goes into her kitchen towards her stove and noticing the officers move away from her 'hot steaming water'.
Sonya says: "Oh I'll rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
Grayson replies: "You better not, I swear to God, or I'll f**king shoot you right in your f**king face."
Sonya quickly drops down and says 'sorry' as the officers raise their guns at her and shout at her to 'drop' the pot, however, three shots are then fired and the officers call in 'a head shot wound to the female'.
"F**k." one says. And despite the other saying they're going to get their kit, they add: "She's done."
"I'm not taking boiling water to my f**king head and look it f**king came right to our feet too. God damn it," Grayson says.
Illinois State Police report: "During the interaction inside the home of Ms. Massey, former Deputy Sean Grayson discharged his firearm striking Ms. Massey and killing her."
The Sangamon County Sheriff's Office notified the Illinois State Police about the incident at 1:43am and 'requested assistance to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting'.
Illinois State Police's report continues: "On 17 July, 2024, the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office presented evidence from the ISP's independent investigation, which included the following BWC footage of the shooting of Sonya Massey, to the Grand Jury of Sangamon County, Illinois.
"On 17 July, the Grand Jury returned a True Bill of Indictment charging former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson with three counts of First Degree Murder, one count of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, and one count of Official Misconduct."
Grayson was later arrested and taken into custody and has since been detained pending trial.
UNILAD has contacted Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office and The Sangamon County Sheriff's Office for comment.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Racial Equity Support Line on 503-575-3764, available weekdays from 10am to 7pm PT. Or via the Lines for Life Equity Team at [email protected].
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact The Compassionate Friends on (877) 969-0010.
Topics: Police, US News, Black Lives Matter, Racism, Mental Health
Poppy Bilderbeck