Officials from Sangamon county, Illinois, have reached a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old mother of two who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy after she called 911 for help.
Massey, a Black woman, was gunned down on July 6, 2024, by former Sangamon county sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson after he responded to her home with another colleague. Grayson, who is White, has since been charged with first-degree murder, The Guardian reported.
A lawsuit was yet to be filed over Massey’s killing, but the settlement being reached could likely play a role in preventing that from happening. The Sangamon county board chair, Andy Van Meter, addressed the shooting in a memo that was sent out before the vote on the settlement was cast by county officials.
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“No price paid can take back the actions of a rogue former deputy, but this agreement is an effort to provide some measure of recompense to the Massey family for their unimaginable loss,” the memo stated. “The county remains committed to working with the community to strengthen policies to try to ensure tragedies like this never happen again.”
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Massey’s shooting death sparked anger and even gained attention from then-President Joe Biden, celebrities and other personalities. Following the release of police body camera footage, many called for justice for the Springfield, Illinois woman who died after authorities said she called 911 to report a possible intruder.
On July 6, Massey called the police to her home in Springfield to report that she believed someone had broken into her property. Police body camera footage shows Grayson and another deputy following her inside as Massey enters her home. The officers ask for her ID and watch as she searches for it.
The deputies later ask Massey to check on a pot of water boiling on her stove. The footage later shows Grayson shooting Massey in the face after the deputy yells at her to put down the pot of boiling water.
Massey’s shooting is an example of how police encounters with Black people often turn into violence. Data on police shootings cited by The Washington Post show that of the 1,161 victims fatally shot by police in 2023, eight were Black women.
In the wake of her killing, Grayson argued that Massey was coming toward him with the boiling water. However, the attorney representing Massey’s family, Benjamin Crump, said the video showed otherwise.
“He actually walks around the counter and engages to get a better shot and that’s what the state attorney’s investigation found, that he actually engaged her,” Crump said. “He could have done so many things to not shoot her in the face. He could have backed up. He could have used a Taser.”
After Massey’s shooting death, the Massey commission, which is a citizen’s commission in Sangamon county, was established “to take action and make recommendations that expand safe and equitable access to services by addressing systemic racism and mistrust in law enforcement and other helping professions”, The Guardian reported.
The Justice Department and the county also agreed to “review and update policies, rules, and procedures and provide training on a variety of topics, including non-discriminatory policing and interactions with individuals with behavioral health disabilities.”
“The agreement requires the development and implementation of a mobile crisis team program, which will include trained behavioral health staff who timely respond to individuals needing urgent behavioral health assistance,” the Justice Department said in its statement.
“The agreement also provides for the development of a Community Engagement Plan to ensure collaborative problem-solving and nondiscrimination in policing, as well as to increase transparency and community confidence. The agreement sets forth a framework for data collection and reporting for a two-year period of departmental monitoring, among other provisions.”
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