The Shooting of Sonya Massey by a Thug Deputy Reviewed by a Former Cop

[Mortos]

I just watched the bodycam footage of Deputy Sean P. Grayson who shot Sonya Massey in her Illinois home after she called 911 about a prowler. A couple of observations from someone who has dealt with literally thousands of mentally ill 911 callers and who has responded to people in mental crisis as a police officer. In one call, very similar to this one, I had water thrown on me and was called the devil by a petite older Hispanic woman who was in an obvious mental crisis. I did not use violence against her and I never even considered drawing my weapon.

First of all, Ms. Massey appeared to be in a very minor mental crisis. She appeared to be mildly paranoid. This type of call is extremely common. A prowler call is usually put in as a priority 3 (low priority) or if the calling party actually saw someone looking in their window or trying to get into their property it would be upgraded to a priority 2 (medium priority). A good dispatcher can usually determine if a caller is experiencing a mental crisis and will notate the call with that info.
These types of calls are generally checked out by the responding officer in a non-emergent manner. Most 911 dispatchers will ask the calling party if they want contact with the officer. Some do, some don't. I don't know if that question was asked in this case.
After an officer checks the property, if the calling party wanted contact, the officer or deputy may knock on the door once or twice to tell the calling party they were unable to locate anything. If they were unable to get anyone to answer the door, normally, they would leave the call and have dispatch update the call notes as they were unable to locate anything suspicious and ask the dispatcher to call the calling party back to tell them nothing was found.

These deputies, for some reason, repeatedly banged on Ms. Massey's door. They did this approximately 5 times each time louder and more aggressively. They shouted "Sheriff's department!" repeatedly. When Ms. Massey responded (inaudible on the bodycam footage) one of the deputies shouted at her to answer the door. His tone was aggressive, impatient, and patronizing.
When Ms. Massey finally opened the door, all that the deputies needed to say was that they were unable to locate anyone around her property, ask her if she needed anything else, and leave.

It appears that Ms. Massey's delay in opening the door aggravated Deputy Grayson and he is abrupt, sarcastic, and rude to Ms. Massey. When she states she is afraid of them, he responds, "Why would we hurt you, you called us."
Deputy Grayson proceeds to ask Ms. Massey about a vehicle in her driveway. He continues questioning her about the vehicle (again this is a low-priority call that has already been resolved). He asks her if she has mental issues. He eventually pressures her into letting him and his partner into her home. The deputies shine lights in the rooms adjacent to her living room (this would never be done in an affluent home). They appear to be searching Ms. Massey's home which is not required or legally justified. They press her to provide identification (there is no need for her to do so). She seems confused and is looking through her purse and offers them some paperwork. Deputy Grayson is again sarcastic and rude to her telling her to get her ID out first and then she can show them her paperwork.

Grayson appears to be well over six feet tall, heavily tattooed, about 250 pounds and muscular. Ms. Massey appears to be about 5'5 or less, diminutive, a little over 120 pounds, and is in her nightgown and pajamas.

Ms. Massey makes several references to God. But she is passive and non-threatening. Again, she seems to be in a mild state of paranoia but is compliant with the officers (unnecessary requests to identify herself). Religious delusions are common with people in mental crisis.

Deputy Grayson then sees a pot of boiling water in the kitchen and orders Ms. Massey to turn it off. He was actually closer to the kitchen than she was. If he was concerned about the pot of water, he could have easily taken a few steps into the kitchen and turned the burner off. Ms. Massey gets up from the couch, as she was told, and walks into the kitchen to do as Deputy Grayson requested. She picks up two pot holders and removes the pot from the stove and pours the hot water in the sink. In a very mild and meek voice, she says "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." It is almost impossible to hear her because she is so quiet. Officer Grayson immediately draws his weapon and aggressively lunges towards her. He says "Drop the pot. I will shoot you in the fucking face." There is a countertop separating Ms. Massey from both deputies. Ms. Massey never advanced toward the deputies. Deputy Grayson advanced towards her with his pistol pointed directly at her.

Ms. Massey responds fearfully. She apologizes. It appears she sits the pot on the counter and, with two pot holders in her hands, crouches down on the floor. Deputy Grayson continues to scream and curse at her repeatedly telling her he will kill her. Deputy Grayson approached Ms. Massey and she attempted to stand up. Deputy Grayson shoots her in the face from approximately five feet away. THE ONLY THING IN HER HANDS WHEN GRAYSON FIRED THREE ROUNDS AT HER HEAD WERE TWO CLOTH POT HOLDERS.

After she is shot in the face under her left eye, Deputy Grayson's partner says he will go he his med kit. Grayson tells him not to because he shot her in the head and she is done for. No medical intervention is provided. Grayson continues to curse and attempts to justify his actions by saying he was not going to get hot water thrown on him.

A little background on Deputy Grayson. He resigned from his last department because his supervisor found that he was a bully, a liar, and violated policy and he was about to be fired. He was also accused of abusing his power and harassing people he came in contact with. "CBS News previously reported Grayson pleaded guilty twice to driving under the influence before becoming a police officer, that he served in six different departments in four years, and that he left the Army after only 19 months." He was discharged from the Army over "serious misconduct."

Sean Grayson should have never been allowed to put on the uniform of a law enforcement officer in the first place. Even a rudimentary background check would have raised red flags and issues that would preclude him from ever being a law enforcement officer. Every department that hired him was negligent. In my opinion, now-fired Deputy Grayson is guilty of murdering Sonya Massey in cold blood. Lethal force was not only unjustified, it was incredibly stupid, cowardly, and negligent. Deputy Grayson is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.

Ms. Massey should not have died for calling the police for help, if the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office had done its due diligence she would be alive today. The Sheriff's Office is responsible for hiring a murderer and sending him out to harass, bully, and ultimately kill. I hope Deputy Grayson is convicted for this cruel and callous shooting and sentenced to prison for the rest of his miserable life.
Below is a link to the full bodycam footage. Warning, the footage is graphic in not only showing the cold-blooded murder of Ms. Massey, but also Deputy Grayson's callousness, vulgarity, and cruelty.

To give you an idea of this man's disregard and lack of concern for her life in the moments after: "Later, Grayson spoke to a group of law enforcement officers outside. “Yeah, I’m good,” he said on the bodycam footage. “This fucking bitch is crazy.” referring to the unarmed Black woman he had just shot in the face.

[hlthe2b]

1. I've seen my share of human carnage but I can never bring myself to watch any of these videos, so the pro analysis

is appreciated and I'd certainly agree with his assessment based on what is described.

Horrific does not begin...

[ShazzieB]

9. I feel the same way about watching the video.

Posting it for those who want to watch it is 100% AOK, but I really appreciate all the detail in the op that tells me everything I need to know and allows me to be fully informed without needing to watch.

[mahina]

2. That poor woman. It's a nightmare. Peace to her, and justice to him, please, please, please. He is a monster.

[yardwork]

3. Thank you for posting this.

I've rarely heard anything so despicable.

[duncang]

4. From the moment he went to the door

He was looking for something to hang someone on. I can imagine that it will come out him his short time at Sagamon he has harassed everyone he came in contact with.

[Mortos]

5. This was his statement captured on bodycam after he shot her

Later, Grayson spoke to a group of law enforcement officers outside. “Yeah, I’m good,” he said on the bodycam footage. “This f**king b*tch is crazy.”

This man is a sociopath. I can almost guarantee he has hurt other people. I venture a guess that he has some SA in his background, too.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

17. agreed.

[ecstatic]

6. "Why would we hurt you, you called us."

And then proceeds to shoot her in the face for no GD reason. Lock him up! 🤬

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. He was charged with murder.

He has been locked up.

[ecstatic]

7. Also, not sure I liked the author's characterization of her mental state

If an armed bully came to your house and illegally demanded ID after yelling and talking to you any kind of way, let's see how you'd react. There's probably so much negative energy swirling around that cop and some people can sense that type of thing. He came in there to kill someone and that's exactly what he did.

As far as the car in the driveway, believe it or not that happens, and when it does, you're not going to necessarily know who is responsible right away. Some people are just that bold to park in your fucking driveway (or direct their guests to) without permission. It happened to me once but thankfully those nightmare neighbors are gone.

[Mortos]

19. From the Washington Post

The day before Sonya Massey was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy in Illinois, her mother called 911 seeking help. She said Massey was having a mental breakdown — and she implored law enforcement officers not to harm her daughter, newly released 911 recordings show.

[multigraincracker]

8. The buck stops at the top.

Sheriff is responsible for hiring him. Also for costing the county 10s of millions of dollars if not more.
He should resign and never be in a position of responsibility in law enforcement again.

[70sEraVet]

10. I agree! There has got to be some accountability for hiring decisions!

Quit giving known bad cops guns and putting them back on the street!

[uponit7771]

18. Just found out about this, whoever hired his ass needs to be FIRED

[KS Toronado]

11. Best description I've seen of the incident.

Hope he rots in jail.

[Mortos]

15. I appreciate your review

He will probably die in prison. His lawyer says Grayson has stage 3 colon cancer. And we all know how efficient prisons are at providing medical treatment.

[krkaufman]

12. Justice almost certainly denied

Grayson should go away for a long time, but somebody responsible for hiring him and allowing him to remain on active duty should be facing charges of criminal negligence if not manslaughter.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. tl;dr: Fuck the police.

[malaise]

16. Cold blooded murder

That is all

[Dave Bowman]

23. So what you're saying is that her murder was justified?

That's kind of a weird thing to say, don't you think?