SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The family of Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed earlier this month by a Sangamon County deputy, demanded answers Tuesday about initial miscommunication between law enforcement, dispatchers and even HSHS St. John's Hospital, as dispatch audio broadcast minutes after she was shot incorrectly stated she killed herself.
Former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder.
Grayson fired three shots at Sonya Massey on July 6, shooting her once in the face.
His partner's body camera captured everything leading up to the shooting. Grayson's was not turned on until just after it happened.
However, it caught this conversation minutes later with a sergeant who arrived at the scene:
Grayson: "House is cleared, she was the only one."
Sergeant: "Where's the gun?"
Grayson: "No she had boiling water and came at me, with boiling water."
Sergeant: "You shot her?"
Grayson: "Yeah. She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at me with boiling water."
The confusion over the airwaves began sometime after the shooting. Dispatchers and officers did not say a deputy was involved.
Scanner traffic played out like this:
Unknown speaker 1: "703, once we get the suspect information or vehicle information, that's the stuff we need to start working on to help them out."
Unknown speaker 2: "Just to confirm, self-inflicted?
Unknown speaker 3: “(Unintelligible) Copy county's update?”
Unknown speaker 2: “I didn't.”
Unknown speaker 3: “Self-inflicted."
At no point in the body camera footage did Grayson or the other deputy who witnessed the shooting claim it was self-inflicted.
On the scene, Grayson could be heard talking to other officers who were confused about the situation.
At one point, a deputy said, "Any ID on the suspect?"
Grayson responded: "Me."
"Oh, I didn't know what happened," the other deputy said.
Another exchange played out a couple minutes later.
Deputy: “That's my fault, man, I didn't know it was an officer involved.”
Grayson: “No man, it's good. It happened so f—ing quick we didn't have time to put s— out that it was me."
Deputy: “Yeah, that's what I am trying to figure out and make sure we didn't need to look for someone.”
Grayson: “No, we're good. I think she set it up on purpose.”
During a news conference Tuesday, Massey's family said the confusion continued at the hospital.
Jimmy Crawford Jr., who is the father of Massey's daughter, said his friend works at the hospital and called Crawford when she realized the victim was Massey, "because she was concerned about no family showing up because there was too much time had passed without the family even being notified.
"So she heard the police telling the nurses she killed herself. How do you get that confused?” Crawford said.
Massey's son, Malachi Hill, said they would not tell him who was involved.
"They told me that my mom, she had been shot in the eye and it came out her neck. And they didn't tell me who. They were just saying, 'Somebody,'" Hill said.
Massey's father, James Wilburn, said he didn't find out until the next day on the news that she was shot by a deputy.
"I'm calling for the sheriff's resignation. Because I think it’s a culture to treat this family this bad,” Wilburn said.
Attorney Ben Crump said the family met with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said the Department of Justice has officially opened an investigation.
"We look to the authorities to do a thorough investigation on each and every aspect of what lead to the killing, the killing and the aftermath of the killing," Pritzker said.
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell posted a statement on Facebook Monday night:
“The Body Worn Camera footage has now been released, and the public can see what we saw: Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson.
"Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement. Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them.
"This incident does not reflect the values or actions of our law enforcement community. It was a tragic decision made by an individual who had the training, tools, and experience to know better. We are committed to upholding a standard that prevents such tragedies from occurring in the future.”