Officials in Sangamon County, Illinois, have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed in her home last summer after she called police for assistance.
The agreement reached last week between lawyers for Massey’s family and attorneys representing the county was unanimously approved Tuesday evening by the Sangamon County Board.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, held a virtual news conference Wednesday on what would have been her 37th birthday.
Crump said it “is only the first step in the journey for justice.”
He and Antonio Romanucci, another family attorney, called the settlement “historic.”
“It’s our understanding that this, by far, is the largest settlement reached in Sangamon County of any kind, let alone a civil rights case such as this one,” Romanucci said.
He pushed back against criticism that the amount was too low, saying it came to 50% of the sheriff’s office’s annual budget.
“This settlement is magnanimous, and it’s very relevant, and it’s very significant, because, as Ben knows, we’re not in Minneapolis, we’re not in Memphis, we’re not in Louisville,” he said, referring to other cities where he and Crump have negotiated or are negotiating settlements for the families of Black people killed by police. “We’re in Sangamon County.”
The county administrator did not immediately return a request for comment.
Massey called 911 early on the morning of July 6 to report a suspected prowler outside her home. Then-Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy, who has not been identified, responded, according to body-camera footage.
Grayson, who is white, pointed out a pot of boiling water on the stove, and as Massey retrieved it and was handling the pot, she twice said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot, and as she ducked, he fired three shots at her, one of which struck her beneath her left eye.
Grayson said in a report written three days after the shooting that he feared “great bodily harm” or death because Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Prior to the shooting, Grayson had worked for six law enforcement agencies in central Illinois in four years. Nearly two weeks after Massey’s killing, he was fired and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail.
His attorney declined to comment on Wednesday.
Sonya Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said at Wednesday’s news conference that Sangamon County and some of the other agencies where Grayson worked were responsible for his daughter’s death.
Records obtained by NBC News indicate documented issues with Grayson’s performance at some of his previous employers.
“I think he should have never been hired,” Wilburn said.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The day before the shooting, Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, had called 911 seeking help for her daughter, who she was concerned the police might try to hurt, Donna Massey told a dispatcher in recordings released by the sheriff’s department.
After her killing, Massey’s name joined a growing list of Black residents fatally shot in their homes by police across the country, including Botham Jean in 2018, Atatiana Jefferson in 2019 and Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson last year.
Massey’s fatal shooting also forced the premature retirement of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, who hired Grayson, after residents and Gov. JB Pritzker called on him to step down.
Pritzker said at the time that Campbell had failed at his job because he hired Grayson despite documented issues with Grayson’s performance at previous agencies.
Grayson’s employment history, and two DUIs convictions, in 2015 and 2016, led Massey’s family and others to question why he was allowed to work in law enforcement. The 2015 conviction led to his premature discharge from the Army the following year.
The Massey case prompted a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Justice Department and the sheriff’s office, in which the county pledged a series of changes, including more training, updates to policies pertaining to nondiscriminatory policing and the reporting of use-of-force data.
The DOJ found no discriminatory practices by the sheriff’s office or the county’s emergency dispatch operation in connection with Massey’s death.
