SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The father and uncle of a woman who was shot and killed by a deputy after she called 911 for help have established a GoFundMe account to help with expenses.
The ‘Justice for Sonya Massey‘ account, established Thursday, seeks $100,000.
“Our family will likely need mental health counseling and support, money for travel costs and money for household support as we miss work to pursue justice for Sonya,” the description on the funding page reads, in part.
Massey, 36, was killed in the early morning hours of July 6 after she’d called 911 to report a suspected prowler. In a sudden escalation captured on the law enforcement officers’ body cameras, Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey three times, with one fatal blow to the head, as she worked with a boiling pot of water.
“Sonya is remembered as caring and loving mother to her two children, a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter,” family members wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Sonya loved cooking, doing hair, nurturing her children, and spending time with her family. She was also a devoted church member.”
Family members said they didn’t have clear information for days about how Massey died. Records of scanner traffic indicates that dispatchers also didn’t have a clear understanding of how it all played out.
“If it weren’t for that camera footage, they would have lied their way right out of this,” Massey’s father said earlier this week during a news conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Grayson, 30, has been terminated from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. An Illinois grand jury indicted him last week. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. State records show he worked for six different law enforcement agencies since August 2020.
In a statement, a Department of Justice spokesman said the agency was “aware of and assessing the circumstances” surrounding Massey’s death and would “continue to track the criminal case opened by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney.”
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