Two emergency response calls were made from the home of Sonya Massey in the days leading up to her death, according to records released Wednesday. On one call, a woman calling from Sonya Massey’s address, who doesn’t identify herself, says people want to hurt her, and a day later, a woman identifying herself as Sonya Massey reports a neighbor had hit her with a brick. A third call came from Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, who reported that her daughter is suffering a “mental breakdown” and told the dispatcher, “I don’t want you guys to hurt her.” Massey's mother fears the police, she tells the 911 operator, and asks that no officer who is “prejudiced” be sent, the Associated Press reports. Massey, a Black woman, was shot in the face by a white Illinois sheriff’s deputy in her kitchen after she called 911 for help. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department is trying to determine whether Massey’s history of mental health issues was relayed to deputies responding to the call about a suspected prowler, which ended in her death on July 6.
Former sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, 30, who is white, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the shooting death of Massey, 36, in her home. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. Also on Wednesday, Sheriff Jack Campbell released Grayson’s personnel file in response to public-records requests, with records that start with his hire on May 1, 2023, and end with his dismissal on July 17, the day he was indicted. The records confirm what was previously known, that Campbell was aware of Grayson’s two drunken driving convictions within a year, the first of which led to his premature discharge from the Army. Campbell said DUIs do not disqualify a candidate and that Grayson’s rapid succession of jobs — five in four years before joining the Sangamon department — showed admirable ambition to advance to larger and more structured departments. The sheriff said he knew of no previous discipline problems. References said that Grayson needed more training, a not-uncommon observation about young recruits, Campbell said, noting that Grayson subsequently attended 16 weeks of academy training.
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