The U.S. Justice Department and a central Illinois sheriff's office on Friday announced a deal resolving an inquiry into violations of federal anti-discrimination law in the shooting death last summer of an unarmed Black woman in her home after she called 911 for assistance.
The memorandum of agreement stipulates that federal officials found no discriminatory practices by the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office or the county's emergency dispatch operation surrounding the death of Sonya Massey. As part of the deal, local officials pledged a series of remedies, including more training and use-of-force data reporting. The alleged shooter, ex-deputy Sean Grayson, was fired and remains jailed facing a first-degree murder charge.
Here are questions and answers about the incident and investigation. What prompted the Justice Department's investigation?. In the early morning hours of July 6, Massey, 36, called deputies to her Springfield home, saying she suspected a prowler. Grayson and another officer, both white, responded and entered her home to get information. Grayson pointed out a pan of boiling water on the stove, Massey retrieved it and joked with Grayson over his backing away from it, then told Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot, and as she ducked, he fired three shots, striking her just below the left eye.
The Justice Department said in July it was “assessing” the circumstances surrounding the incident, but a county-created Massey Commission, whose co-chairpersons include Massey's cousin Shadia Massey, asked for federal intervention in October. A request from Washington for county records followed a month later.
