Autopsy confirms Sonya Massey died of gunshot wound to the head, while attorney calls shooting senseless

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsy findings were released Friday for Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old black woman who was fatally shot in her Illinois home by a now-fired sheriff’s deputy charged in her death. The findings confirm she died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The report was released shortly before civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey’s family, condemned the killing by former deputy Sean Grayson as senseless, unnecessary and outrageous.

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon had previously released preliminary findings into Massey’s July 6 death in Springfield. The full autopsy report released Friday confirmed those findings, including the conclusion that her death was a homicide.

In addition to the bullet that struck her just below her left eye, Massey also suffered “minor blunt force injuries” to her right leg, the autopsy said.

Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct in the killing of Massey. He was fired last week from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and is being held without bail.

Crump, at his third news conference this week since the bodycam video was released Monday, used a magnified diagram from the autopsy that showed the bullet exiting her neck on a downward trajectory. That, he said, underscores the physical mismatch between Massey and the much larger Grayson, who shot her because he said he felt threatened by a pot of hot water she was pulling off her stove.

“As Sonya Massey was staring down the barrel of his gun, she leaned over and said, ‘Sorry, sir, sorry,’ and the bullet was fired while she was in this bent position and coming up,” Crump said. “The autopsy confirms what everyone already knows, which is that this was just a senseless, unnecessary, excessive use of force.”

Grayson is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds. The autopsy lists Massey as 5 feet 3 inches tall and 115 pounds. Prosecutors added that the distance between the shooter and the victim and a marker between them gave Grayson “distance and relative coverage” from the hot water.

Authorities said Massey had called 911 to report a suspected burglar. Two officers eventually arrived at her home in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago.

The video corroborated prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment in which Grayson shouted over a counter at Massey to put down a pot of hot water, pointed his 9mm pistol at her and threatened to shoot her in the face. He fired three times.

The unknown officer with Grayson then said he would get his first aid kit, but Grayson said, “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a shot to the head. There’s nothing you can do about it, man.”

He later relented, as the second officer held towels to Massey’s head to stop the bleeding. But by the time Grayson returned with his supplies, the paramedics had already arrived. When they told Grayson his help wasn’t needed, he threw his supplies on the ground and said, “I’m not even going to waste my medicine.”

Massey struggled with mental illness, her family said. Her son, 17-year-old Malachi Hill Massey, said Friday that he and his 15-year-old sister moved in with their fathers because Sonya Massey had checked herself into a 30-day inpatient program in St. Louis sometime the week before her death, but returned two days later without explanation.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Malachi Massey also said that on July 5, the day before the early morning shooting, police officers he believed were from Sangamon County were called to the house and were there when he arrived. By that time, his mother had called him to say she was driving herself to a local hospital, apparently for mental health treatment. He said he doesn’t know who called the police or what kind of help she was seeking that day.

The Associated Press has asked local law enforcement authorities for records of the July 5 phone call.