Sonya Massey’s mother called 911 to report her daughter having a mental breakdown a day before Massey, 36, was fatally shot inside of her home by an Illinois deputy, according to emergency call audio released this week.
“She has been having a mental breakdown, which is something new to me,” Donna Massey, her mother, can be heard saying on the call. “She is not a danger to herself, she is not a danger to me. But when she gets upset, then she thinks everyone is after her, like paranoid or schizophrenic.”
The call provides more context about whether authorities knew that Sonya Massey was suffering from mental health issues on July 6, when a deputy fatally shot her in Springfield, Illinois.
Sean Grayson, 30, was fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department and charged with three counts of first-degree murder on July 17 for shooting and killing Massey while she was holding a pot of water inside of her kitchen. Grayson was also charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct.
Donna Massey called 911 on July 5 around 9 a.m., according to dispatch call records. Around 10 a.m., Springfield police arrived at the home of her daughter Sonya Massey, who said she did not want to speak with medical professionals at the time.
Then, in another 911 call around 1 p.m. that same day, Sonya Massey said that a neighbor had gone to her house and was causing problems, alleging that the person had broken her driver’s seat window with a brick. Sometime after that call, Massey went to the hospital. It’s unclear if she went on her own or was accompanied by police.
Once at the hospital, Massey told medical personnel that she had broken another window herself on the driver’s side of her car to get into the vehicle and get away. Records state she had “minor scrapes,” apparently from reaching into the car through broken windows.
Authorities at the hospital with Massey said she was “having some 10-96 issues,” which is police language for mental health problems. She advised medical staff that she had recently been released from a mental hospital, with her paperwork dated July 3, according to dispatch call records.
Audio records also show another call a day earlier, on July 4, from an unidentified person who sounded like Massey and who said that someone was trying to hurt them. When the dispatcher asked whom the caller was referring to, the caller responded: “a lot of them.”
Illinois State Police via AP
On July 6, the day of the shooting, body-worn camera footage shows Grayson and another deputy arriving at Massey’s home after she made a call about a possible prowler near her residence. After the deputies canvassed the area, they began questioning Massey at her door.
Footage shows both deputies walking inside the home and asking Massey to identify herself to them. While she searches for her identification in the living room, Grayson points to the kitchen, and Massey walks over to her stove to turn off a boiling pot of water.
The two deputies take a step back while Massey is handling the pot. One deputy is heard saying he is moving “away from your hot steaming water.”
Massey responds: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“Huh?” the deputy says.
Then Massey repeats herself. Grayson draws his weapon and Massey says “I’m sorry” while crouching and shielding herself, seemingly in fear.
“Drop the fucking pot,” Grayson shouts.
Grayson fires three shots at Massey while shouting at her to put the pot down. When the other deputy says he’s going to get his medical kit, Grayson tells him there is nothing they can do because it was a “head shot.”
Grayson’s body-worn camera, unlike his colleague’s, was not operating until after he shot Massey, according to charging documents.
Questions have mounted as to why Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department hired Grayson despite his checkered history of law enforcement experience. In an interview with CBS News, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said he did not know how Grayson “slipped through the cracks.”
Grayson’s personnel files show him leaving multiple law enforcement jobs over four years. Notes from Grayson’s Sangamon County hiring process indicate that the Virden Police Department reported Grayson was “proactive and worked well with the public,” but also that he “did not demonstrate good officer safety skills.” The police chief at the time said that “he believes that was because [Grayson] was new to the job.”
Grayson used Scott Butterfield, a former Sangamon County deputy, as a reference when applying for the role, according to the records HuffPost reviewed. Grayson was dating Butterfield’s daughter at the time; they are now engaged.
“Mr. Butterfield advised me that Mr. Grayson is currently dating his daughter,” reads a note from his hiring process. “Mr. Butterfield describes Mr. Grayson as a mellow, non-confrontational person who has good communication skills. Mr. Butterfield highly recommends Mr. Grayson for employment with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.”
Massey’s family has demanded the resignation of Campbell, the Sangamon County sheriff, for hiring Grayson.
John Lamparski via Getty Images
Outrage over Massey’s shooting has grown as more information is released about the circumstances of her death. A national day of silence was held for her in several major cities across the nation last weekend.
Massey’s killing compelled lawmakers to reintroduce police reform and accountability legislation.
“The 911 calls capture the heartbreaking pleas of Sonya’s mother who desperately sought help for her daughter while expressing her deep fears about the potential for violence at the hands of the police. Despite these warnings, Sonya, a woman struggling with her mental health, was met with deadly force in her own home,” attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family, said in a statement on Thursday.
“Sonya needed compassion and support. Instead, she was met with a gunshot to the face by a deputy whose actions have now led to charges of first-degree murder. The failure to provide the appropriate response to a mental health crisis has resulted in an irreversible loss for the Massey family and underscores a systemic issue that must be addressed,” Crump said.