CNN
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An Illinois sheriff publicly admitted to dereliction of duty toward a slain Springfield-area resident on Monday, nearly two weeks after one of his former deputies was charged with murder in the death of a Black woman who had called 911 for help.
“(Sonia Massey) called for help and we failed,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said of the July 6 shooting at a community meeting at a Springfield church.
“We failed in our jobs. We let Sonia down. We let Sonia’s family and friends down. We let the community down,” Campbell said.
According to court documents filed by prosecutors, Massey, 36, called 911 to report a “prowler” at his home near Springfield. Authorities say two sheriff’s deputies went to the home to investigate, and one of them, then-Deputy Shawn Grayson, shot and killed Massey after an argument over a pot of boiling water.
Grayson, 30, was indicted by a grand jury on July 17 on three counts of first-degree murder, one count each of aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied pretrial release, according to court records.
A review of the Illinois State Police investigation into the shooting “does not support a conclusion that Grayson was justified in using deadly force,” Illinois County State’s Attorney John Millhiser said in a July 17 news release.
At Monday night’s meeting, Campbell asked for forgiveness from the community and expressed a willingness to push for reforms within the sheriff’s office.
“I stand before you today with open arms and I ask for forgiveness. I ask for forgiveness from Mr. Massey and his family. I make no excuses. What I do is try to do better. To be better,” he said.
The sheriff’s office has commented on the incident before, including on the day it announced Grayson’s firing. At the time, the office said Grayson’s actions “do not reflect the values or training of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office or the entire law enforcement community” and that “it is clear that the deputy did not act in accordance with his training or in accordance with the standards of this agency.”
Monday night’s meeting was hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, which is tasked with responding to and preventing community tensions and hate crimes based on race, sexual orientation and other factors.
The Justice Department said last week that it was “evaluating the circumstances” surrounding the deadly shooting.
“We’re here to bring stakeholders together for mutual understanding and problem-solving that uses local voices and ideas,” the service’s director, Justin Locke, said at a session where community members were invited to air their thoughts and feelings about Massey’s death.
State prosecutor Mirhisar was one of the speakers at the listening session.
“My number one goal as State’s Attorney is to keep our community safe and prioritize public safety in our community,” Millhiser said. “We achieve that goal by prosecuting cases in Sangamon County without fear or prejudice and holding those who break the law accountable.”
Massey is one of several black women killed by police in their homes in recent years, including Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jefferson. At a press conference last week, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, linked her death to other incidents of police violence against black people across the country.
Wix
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell spoke at a listening session in Springfield Monday night.
What the body camera footage shows
The video, released by Illinois State Police last week, includes body camera footage from each of two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies who responded to Massey’s home after midnight on July 6.
In the video, Grayson and another deputy are seen calmly speaking with Massey as he goes to the stove to turn off a pot of boiling water, before Massey picks up the pot and the other deputy steps back “away from the steaming water.”
“I rebuke you in Jesus’ name,” she replied.
“Huh?” the adjutant says.
“I rebuke you in Jesus’ name,” she repeated.
“You better not do that or I swear to you, I’ll shoot you in the face,” Grayson says.
The man pulls out a gun and points it at her, and she leans over and picks up the pot while saying “I’m sorry,” according to the video.
“Throw away the damn pot!” two police officers yell.
Three gunshots were heard, followed by a few seconds of silence before one of the officers said “shots fired” and called for emergency medical services.
“Hey, I don’t pour f**king boiling water on my f**king head. And, look, I got it poured on our feet, too,” Grayson says.
Minutes after the shooting, Grayson speaks to another officer. “She had boiling water and she came at me with the boiling water,” he says in the video. “She said she rebukes me in the name of Jesus and she came at me with the boiling water.”
Massey’s autopsy report, released last week, said she died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Her family’s lawyer emphasized the angle from which the deputy shot Massey.
“Ms. Massey was shot just below the eye and the bullet exited the back of her neck, just below her ear,” Crump told CNN. “This indicates that he shot her on a downward trajectory.”
Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, told CNN on Friday when asked for comment, “We prefer not to comment.”
Jonathan Fernandez/SIPAPRE/AP
A rally will be held for Sonia Massey in Washington Square Park in New York City on Sunday.
Grayson did not activate his body camera until after he shot Massey, according to the indictment. The other deputy only activated his body camera when he arrived on the scene, the indictment states.
According to another officer’s body camera footage, the incident began when officers walked through Massey’s yard and found a car with a broken window. They then knocked on the door and spoke to Massey, but he had difficulty understanding and answering questions about his car and himself.
As they were talking in her living room, the officers noticed a pot on the stove that was on fire, and one of them said, “We don’t want a fire while we’re here.” Massey got up and turned off the stove, after which the shooting began.
Shortly after the shooting, video shows Grayson telling his partner Massey that he didn’t need medical assistance.
The other deputy offered to bring a medical kit to help, but Grayson replied, “No, I’m done. I can go get it, but it’s a headshot.”
Grayson then went to his car to get his medical supplies. When he got back to the house he asked if there was anything they could do for him but was told there wasn’t.
“Okay, then I won’t waste the medicine,” Grayson says.
Grayson then leaves the house and addresses a group of officers outside. “Yeah, it’s okay, this bitch is crazy,” he is seen saying on the footage.
CNN’s Jennifer Feldman and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
