Desperate 911 Calls Before Vulnerable Sonya Massey’s Shooting Include One From Her Mom Pleading With Cops: ‘I Don’t Want You Guys to Hurt Her’
Sangamon County officials have released 911 calls made by Sonya and Donna Massey before Sonya's shooting death on July 6.
Sonya Massey’s mother begged police not to hurt her daughter in a newly released 911 call made one day before Sonya was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Sonya’s mother, Donna Massey, called 911 on July 5 to ask for help as her 36-year-old daughter was in the throes of what she suspected to be a “mental breakdown”.
Body camera video released by the sheriff's office captured the moments before the shooting.
Donna, at around 9 AM, told the dispatcher: “I don’t want you guys to hurt her, please.”
But one day later, on July 6, Sonya was killed when Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, responded to another 911 call at the Massey family’s Springfield, Illinois, home.
The call between Sonya’s mother and the 911 dispatcher was one of several recordings released by Sangamon County officials on Wednesday in the wake of the 36-year-old’s shooting death last month, according to The New York Times.
Before Donna pleaded with police not to hurt her daughter, she described Sonya’s behavior and what she was experiencing.
Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, pulled out his gun and fired three shots at Sonya.
Donna Massey said: “The mental health people told me to call 911 because she could get in her car and kill herself or somebody. She’s run a couple of red lights. She’s not a danger to me.”
Then, shortly before the call ended, Sonya’s mother asked the dispatcher not to send any “combative policemen who are prejudiced”.
She said: “I’m scared of the police. Sometimes they make [the situation] worse.”
Additional recordings released by Sangamon County officials detailed Sonya’s interactions with 911 in the hours leading up to her death.
An internal investigation allegedly found critical lapses in Grayson's response.
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In one of the calls, a woman believed to be Sonya said people were trying to hurt her. In another, Sonya said her neighbor hit her with a brick – after which she checked into a hospital “to seek treatment of her mental state”.
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Flash forward to 12:50 AM on July 6, and two Sangamon County Sheriff's deputies – including Sean Grayson – responded to a call at Sonya’s home.
Bodycam footage showed Sonya repeatedly saying she was just “trying to get help” before she was shot dead by Grayson – who threatened to “shoot her in the f------ face” for holding a pot of water.
County Coroner Jim Allmon concluded the 36-year-old mother-of-two died from a gunshot wound just below her left eye. Her death was officially declared a homicide.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Sonya’s family, called for an investigation into the young Black woman’s death.
Former Illinois deputy Sean Grayson is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
He also criticized the Sangamon County Sheriff Department’s deadly response – especially considering Donna and Sonya’s repeated calls for help.
Crump said: “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.”
Grayson was terminated from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office last month after pleading not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the shooting death of Sonya.
Sheriff Jack Campbell refused to resign amid the backlash against Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office – but he did ask for forgiveness during a community meeting on Wednesday night.
Campbell said: “We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness. I ask Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness.”
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