Officer who killed Sonya Massey after she rebuked him in Jesus’ name is ‘emissary of Satan,’ dad says
James Wilburn, the father of 36-year-old Sonya Massey — who was shot dead by a sheriff's deputy inside her home in Springfield, Illinois, after she rebuked him "in the name of Jesus" earlier this month — called the officer who killed his daughter an "emissary of Satan."
When asked why he thought his daughter chose to rebuke the recently fired 30-year-old Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson while he was responding to a call for help at his daughter's home on July 6, Wilburn told "CBS Mornings" that she must have "feared for her life."
"I think that she feared for her life. There was something, some premonition that she had, and it seems like he was just an emissary of Satan. And that's what caused him to do what he did. It's just unexplainable," Wilburn said.
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An initial statement from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office on Massey's July 6 killing said at around 12:50 a.m., officers were dispatched to a residence in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue in Springfield following a 911 call reporting a prowler. When they arrived at the scene, two deputies searched the area. At 1:21 a.m. they reported that shots were fired, and a female was struck.
"Deputies immediately administered first aid until EMS arrived. The woman was transported to St. John's Hospital, where she was later pronounced deceased. No deputies were injured during the incident," the statement said.
A nearly 19-minute clip of the encounter from a body-camera recording released by the Illinois State Police contradicts some of the claims in the initial statement and fills in gaps about the encounter. It shows Grayson and his partner arriving at Massey's home and waiting for just over four minutes before she opens her door for them.
She appeared anxious and agitated and quickly tells the officers, "Please don't hurt me."
Grayson responded, "Why would we hurt you? You called us."
When the officers asked her what she needed help with, Massey said that someone had been lurking around her yard. The officers told her that before she came to the door, they looked around the area of her home and did not find any immediate concern. They asked why it took her so long to answer the door, and she said that she was trying to put on clothes.
The officers were about to leave shortly after Massey confirmed she had no other concerns when Grayson asked about her mental health, which prompted him to stay longer.
"You doing alright mentally?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied.
Grayson did not appear convinced by her answer and asked if she was sure, and she indicated she had her medicine.
As she was about to close her door, Grayson questioned her about a black SUV in her driveway they previously asked her about. They asked if it was hers, and she said no. When she was asked who owned the car, she told the officers that "they brought it to my driveway," which led to them asking for identification. They followed her inside her house as she tried to locate the document. Massey kept insisting that she wanted to show them her "paperwork" as she engaged in light conversation with Grayson including questions about previous damage to her car.
At about 8 minutes and 35 seconds into the video, Grayson suggests that Massey check on a boiling pot on her stove.
"We don't need a fire while we're here," he says.
Moments later the encounter became deadly.
In the video, as Massey removes the pot from the stove to her sink, the officers back away from her, and she asks, "Where are you going?"
"Away from your hot steaming water," Grayson replies.
"Oh I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," Massey shoots back. "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
"You better f— not, or I swear to God I'll f— shoot you in the f— face," Grayson told her.
"OK. I apologize," she says as the officers order her to drop the pot.
Massey, who appears in the video to be holding the pot next to her running faucet in her sink, can be seen taking her hands off the pot while still holding what looks like mittens in her hand. She then appears to crouch in a defensive position with her hands close to her ears as if anticipating gunfire. Grayson advances toward her while he continues screaming with his gun drawn. He eventually fires several shots and screams "drop the f— pot" again.
He confirms in the video that he shot her in the head and that she was likely dead. He also implies that giving her any medical attention wouldn't make sense.
Grayson tells another law enforcement figure that "she had boiling water and came at me with boiling water" and "was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus." However, the footage appears to refute the allegation that she was advancing toward him with boiling water when the shooting occurred.
"He actually walks around the counter and engages to get a better shot and that's what the state attorney's investigation found, that he actually engaged her," civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump told CBS. "He could have done so many things to not shoot her in the face. He could have backed up. He could have used a Taser."
In a statement Monday, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell called the shooting "unjustifiable and reckless."
"Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson," Campbell said.
"Grayson had other options available that he should have used. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office," he added. "He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never again work in law enforcement. Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them."
A grand jury indicted Grayson on July 17. He was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Wilburn said that Massey, who leaves behind two children, was one of four daughters. He also noted that he had heart surgery two years ago and didn't think he would have been able to handle his daughter's death before then.
"I don't think that looking at that tape with my old heart, before 2022, I had quadruple heart bypass surgery. And I suffered from congestive heart failure, but I don't think my old heart could have taken this," he said.
"I was never told that it was a deputy-involved shooting. We were under the impression that she was killed by the intruder or some other person from the street or something and they just went in there and found her dead body," Wilburn said.
At one point, Wilburn was led to believe his daughter died by suicide.
"Thank God for the body-camera footage," he said. "It's probably the most horrible, heart-wrenching thing we've ever seen in our lives, but if it were not for the body-cam footage, we would not have known that this occurred."
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