By Tyler Clifford
(Reuters) – An Illinois sheriff’s deputy has been fired, arrested and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 36-year-old Black mother that occurred after she called officers to her home for help, officials announced on Wednesday.
Sean Grayson, who is white, is set to be arraigned in Illinois’ Seventh Judicial Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon, one day after a grand jury indicted him on five criminal counts for the July 6 death of Sonya Massey, according to the Sangamon County States Attorney’s Office. He faces three counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated battery and one count of official misconduct.
Massey was unarmed and shot in the face after she called police regarding a suspected intruder in her Springfield home, said Ben Crump, the prominent U.S. civil rights lawyer representing the family. It is the latest in a running list of high-profile police killings of Black people, including George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Roger Fortson, that Crump has counseled.
“While nothing can undo the heinous actions of this officer, we hope the scales of justice will continue to hold him accountable and we will demand transparency at every step,” Crump said in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately identify an attorney for Grayson.
The family has viewed body-camera footage, which officials plan to release on Monday with minimal redactions, according to State’s Attorney John Milhiser.
The shooting was investigated by the Illinois State Police. Grayson was fired after it was found his actions did not follow proper training and standards, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday announcing the charges.
“With our badge we accept enormous responsibility, and if that responsibility is abused, there should be consequences,” the office said in a post on the social media website Facebook.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a statement that Massey deserved protection rather than being “gunned down.”
“My heart breaks for Sonya’s children, for her family and friends and for all who knew and loved her, and I am enraged that another innocent Black woman had her life taken from her at the hands of a police officer,” he said.
“It hurts when I see this happening,” state Senator Doris Turner, who knows the Masseys, told local news. “It’s almost like I see one of my kids or my grandkids.”
Two officers were called to Massey’s home for a suspected prowler at 12:50 a.m. July 6. About 30 minutes later, Massey was shot and later pronounced dead at St. John’s Hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputies were not injured in the incident.
The killing comes roughly two months after a Florida deputy shot and killed Fortson, a 23-year-old Black airman with the U.S. Air Force, at Fortson’s home in Fort Walton Beach. Eddie Duran, the deputy, was later fired amid an investigation into the shooting, though charges have not been filed.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York City; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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