Newly released police body camera footage shows Sonya Massey talking to officers 16 hours before her death

Newly released police body camera footage shows Sonya Massey interacting with police officers 16 hours before she was fatally shot in her Illinois home on July 6, when deputies responded to her 911 call of a suspected prowler. In the course of the video, which was obtained by ABC affiliate WICS and is about 45 minutes long, an upset Massey is seen outside of a home on July 5, the day before Sean Grayson, the now-former Sangamon County deputy, shot her. “I don’t know where they at,” Massey said in the video, referring to her children. “They’re at their dad’s house,” an officer said to Massey. In the video, Sonya Massey appeared to be troubled about the utilities being turned off at her home. “When I got home, I ain’t got no hot water, ain’t got no lights,” Sonya Massey said in the footage. At one point in the video, Sonya Massey told officers she had been taking her medicine. “Last night,” Sonya Massey responded. When Donna Massey called 911 on July 5, she pleaded with the law enforcement not to hurt her daughter. “She’s been mentally, having a mental breakdown,” Donna Massey said on the 911 call obtained by ABC News. “Sonya Massey’s family is devastated by this new footage, which shows clearly that she was in the midst of a mental health crisis,” Crump told ABC News in a statement on Thursday. “Deputy Sean Grayson’s decision to use deadly force against a woman in distress remains inexcusable, unacceptable, and criminal. Grayson must continue to be held responsible for his actions that killed Sonya, who was in desperate need of help.” Hours later, at 12:49 a.m. on July 6, Sonya Massey called 911 herself to report a disturbance. I don’t know,” Sonya Massey said when calling 911. Grayson, 30, and a second, unnamed Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to her 911 at her Springfield home. Body camera footage showed Massey, who was unarmed, saying “Please, don’t hurt me,” to the two responding deputies once she answered their knocks on her door. “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us,” Grayson said. Seen later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searched for her ID, Grayson pointed to a pot of boiling water on her stove. “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here,” he said. Grayson then shouted at Massey and threatened to shoot her, the video shows, and Massey apologized and ducked down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rose, at which time Grayson shot her three times in the face, the footage shows. Grayson said he feared for his life during his encounter with Massey, according to documents released by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office last month. Due to being in fear of our safety and life, I fired my duty weapon,” Grayson wrote in his field case report. According to police records, Grayson worked at six police departments in four years, was charged with two DUIs and was discharged from the army for serious misconduct. “The biggest question is: How did this man ever get hired in law enforcement?” James Wilburn, Sonya Massey’s father told ABC News in an interview in July. “But here’s a man who, in four years, he’s been in six different departments.” ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin and Kimberly Randolph contributed to this report. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/newly-released-police-body-camera-footage-shows-sonya/story?id=113413893