‘We Deserve to Know What Happened’: Illinois Police Shot, Killed Black Woman Who Called 911 to Report Intruder at Her Home, Attorney Says. Now, her Family Is Facing a Blue Wall of Silence
A Black woman’s call for help in Illinois turned tragic when she was shot to death by officers who came to her home in response to a possible intruder, according to reports.
Sonya Massey, 36, was killed after Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department deputies opened fire at her Springfield home on July 6.
Officers never spotted the bad guy while an innocent woman lay at their feet, mortally wounded.
The investigation has been handed over to the Illinois State Police, which has already indicated that body camera footage and other information related to the shooting will not be released immediately to “protect the integrity of the legal process.”
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office is also assisting the probe.
Before the fatal encounter, Massey placed a 911 call in the middle of the night to report a prowler at her residence in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue, where deputies arrived shortly before 1 a.m., according to her family’s attorney.
Moments later, Massey was shot.
The reasons deputies shot Massey remain unclear. Officials have not disclosed the circumstances that led officers to open fire, whether Massey was armed, or how many times she was shot.
The woman was rushed to nearby St. John’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m., according to Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon.
The two deputies involved were unharmed.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement the same day, saying the deputies arrived at about 12:50 a.m., searched the area around Massey’s home, and that around 1:21 a.m. “the deputies reported that shots had been fired, resulting in a female being struck by gunfire.”
Four days after the shooting, Sheriff Jack Campbell posted to Facebook, saying that it is “imperative” for the sheriff’s office to “protect the integrity of the investigation by awaiting” the results of the ongoing investigation.
“My normal procedure is to respond to inquiries and to give public statements in regard to major events. And as an elected official, that is always my instinct,” Campbell wrote. “In this case, it would not be appropriate. I’m asking for the public and the media to be patient as we seek the facts surrounding this tragic event.”
Later that day, Illinois State Police issued a statement saying they would share more details with Massey’s family when appropriate.
Last Friday, the city of Springfield and the Springfield Police Department issued statements extending “their deepest sympathies” to the victim’s family and friends while vowing to push for a swift investigation.
Neither the state police nor the sheriff’s office have made any further comment about Massey’s death.
A crowd of protesters, including Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, gathered outside the Sangamon County Building late last week and this week to demand justice.
Many of the demonstrators held up signs that read, “Say Her Name” — a poignant reminder of victims like Breonna Taylor and a powerful symbol within the Black Lives Matter movement that continues to resonate deeply with families affected by police violence against innocent Black women.
“She deserves justice. Her family deserves justice. And this community deserves answers. We deserve to know what happened to this young woman that called the police,” said protestor Abbey Gignati, according to WAND.
Protest organizer Tiara Standage expressed outrage that the identities of the officers were being withheld and that the department had placed them on paid leave after an innocent woman was slain in her own house.
“Why are they on paid leave at home, playing PlayStation with their kids?” Standage told the crowd. “They need to be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law.”
Sangamon County spokesperson Jeff Wilhite confirmed that the deputies are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Sunshine Clemons, co-founder of the Springfield chapter of Black Lives Matter, said Massey’s death ripped the scab off old wounds for Black people nationwide, recalling the police killings of George Floyd and countless others.
“She should still be here,” Clemons said, according to the Springfield State Journal-Register. “Sonya Massey is her name, her name deserves to be said.”
Florida-based civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Massey’s family, issued a statement saying the victim was shot in the head by the very people she called for protection.
“It is extremely hard to imagine how a woman who calls the police out of fear of an intruder ends up shot in the head by police at her own home,” Crump said, according to NBC News. “We demand that all body camera footage from this incident be released immediately so that Sonya’s family and the public can see what happened in those thirty deadly minutes. No family should have to endure the pain and suffering that Sonya’s loved ones are experiencing right now.”
The latest police shooting may have struck an eerily familiar chord for Crump, who is simultaneously representing the family of Roger Fortson — an innocent Black U.S. senior airman who a white sheriff’s deputy fatally shot during a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex in May.
Fortson had been chatting with his girlfriend on FaceTime before he was shot six times by the officer when Fortson opened his front door with a gun at his side.
Fortson had his gun pointed down at the floor when he was shot. Crump stated that the officer arrived at the wrong apartment and killed Fortson without provocation.