Video shows deputy in fatal Sonya Massey shooting say, 'I'll shoot you in the face'

A situation that led to a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy shooting Sonya Massey escalated rapidly body camera footage released Monday afternoon showed.

The 36-minute video showed Deputy Sean P. Grayson, who has been charged with Massey's murder, as saying "I can't take hot boiling water to the f***ing face" after he fired three shots.

That was a reference to Massey retrieving the pot of water from her stove as Grayson told her he didn't want a house fire.

Grayson initially did not have his body camera on, though another deputy with Grayson did.

When the other deputy said he was going to get his medical kit, video shows Grayson saying, "No, a head shot dude, she's done."

Later on in the video, Grayson calls Massey "f***ing crazy."

The video was released on Illinois State Police's YouTube channel.

“My prayers are with the family of Sonya Massey, and I commend the Illinois State Police for conducting an expedited investigation into her tragic death,” said Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser. “The State’s Attorney’s Office is dedicated to pursuing justice through the prosecution of this case.”

Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell issued the following statement following the release of the video:

"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."

At Massey's funeral on Friday, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the video would "shock the conscience of America like the pictures of Emmett Till after he was lynched."

The lynching of the 14-year-old Till in Mississippi helped galvanize the Civil Rights movement.

Crump also predicted the video would garner similar reactions to Laquan McDonald, who was shot by police 16 times in the back in Chicago, and George Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest.

"It is that senseless, that unnecessary, that unjustifiable, that unconstitutional," Crump said. "This video is tragic in every sense."

More: Sonya Massey case: A timeline of events from officers being called to her funeral

Grayson was arraigned before Presiding Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin in Sangamon County Court Thursday on five Massey called the police in the early morning hours on the report of a possible intruder.

Grayson, a Riverton resident who had been with the sheriff's department since May 2023 before being terminated from his job by Sheriff Jack Campbell on Wednesday. Grayson has worked in law enforcement since August 2020. He was with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office before being hired by Sangamon County in May 2023.

An expert in the field of "use of force" reviewed the body cam footage as part of the Illinois State Police investigation and concluded that Grayson was not justified in the use of deadly force.

The case has generated international attention and led to a number of protests, including one that drew about 200 people to the Springfield NAACP Building Wednesday afternoon.

Campbell, in a statement Wednesday, said Grayson "did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards" and his actions "do not reflect the values and training of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office or law enforcement as a whole."

To view the video, click here.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sonya Massey: Body camera footage in fatal shooting released to public