White’s deputy sheriff who shot him in the face, Sean Grayson, 30, was charged with first-degree murder last week. An Illinois State Police use-of-force expert who investigated the shooting determined it was not justified, prosecutor Mary Rodgers said in court documents.
Massey, 36, was a mother of two teenage boys, a boy and a girl. She loved cooking, doing hair and being with her children, according to a GoFundMe page set up by her family. She weighed just 110 pounds and was in a nightgown and pajamas when she was killed, according to the autopsy report.
The killing sparked widespread condemnation, including a large protest Thursday in Manhattan, and deep emotion among black Americans. More than 1,170 people have been killed by police in the past 12 months, according to a Washington Post database, and black Americans are killed at twice the rate of white Americans.
This week, President Biden called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a package of reforms named after the 46-year-old black man killed by Minneapolis police in 2020. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in March 2021, but negotiations have failed in the Senate. A second attempt to pass it in 2023, after Memphis police killed Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, also failed due to Republican opposition.
“Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding police officer reminds us that too often, African Americans face fears for their safety in ways that many of us do not,” Biden said in a statement.
On July 6, Massey called 911 from her home in Springfield, Illinois, to report a prowler. When Grayson and another deputy arrived around 12:50 a.m., they inspected the property and interacted with her for about 20 minutes.
Then, when Grayson saw a pot on the stove, he asked her to take it off the stove, body camera footage released Monday showed. Massey complied, carrying her to the sink. When Grayson said he was going to the living room to get away from the “hot, steaming water,” she said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson then pulled out his gun and pointed it at Massey, threatening to shoot her in the face. She ducked and said, “Okay, I’m sorry.” Grayson approached her and allegedly fired three shots.
This developing story will be updated.
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