1. Sonya Massey was fatally shot in her home by a deputy

Deputy Sean Grayson responded to Sonya Massey’s call to the police saying she suspected an intruder prowling outside her home in Springfield, Ill. Body camera footage showed that Massey thanked the deputy and his partner for coming, and it also showed hostility immediately on the part of Grayson. Grayson told Massey, once inside, to turn off her stove before she burned her house down. When she did this, she moved a pot of what is perceived to be hot water. Grayson told her to not burn him with the water. At the time Massey was not in close proximity to Grayson. She said in response to Grayson saying that she intended to burn him, with her back turned, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson pulled his gun, and Massey immediately put her hands up and said, “I’m sorry, sir.”  Grayson shot and killed Massey, discouraged his partner from trying to help her and told the officers outside that she was “crazy,” along with calling her expletives.

2. She was a mother

Sonya Massey was a 36-year-old mother of two. Her son Malachi is 17 and her daughter Summer is 15. Malachi was informed of his mother’s death via a phone call. The person told him, “Somebody shot her,”but would not tell him who shot her. There were rumors she was shot by the suspected intruder or that she may have even harmed herself. After hearing about his mother’s death, he went to his grandmother’s house. Both of them were in disbelief. They were not informed that the killing was done by a police officer until a day later. They remember Sonya as “loving and caring.”

3. She was a daughter

James Wilburn, Sonya Massey’s father, has recounted that he could never recall her daughter being angry or hateful. “She was always a daddy’s girl” who ended their conversations with “I love you.”  Having survived heart surgery just a few years ago, Wilburn said he’s taking the news of his daughter’s death “day by day” and “minute by minute.”  After reviewing the harrowing body camera footage, Wilburn said he could sense that Sonya knew something was wrong from the beginning of the interaction with police.

4. Her last words were a prayer

It has been confirmed that Sonya Massey had paranoid schizophrenia and was taking her medications at the time of her death. Some have written off her last words, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” as something a paranoid schizophrenic would say. However, these words have great significance in Black charismatic churches, and Massey was a member of Second Timothy Baptist Church in Springfield. Dr. Wil Gafney and author Austin Channing Brown noted that Massey’s words were spoken because she knew she was facing evil. Often, these words are spoken when things feel out of control and/or if persons feel they are encountering the demonic.  From the police body camera footage, we have a sense that she knew the encounter was not going in a direction that was going to help her.  She called on the name of Jesus to help her.

5. Her family needs assistance

In the wake of tragedy, so much is needed. Medical expenses, counseling and attorney fees are essential in getting justice for Massey. There is no way one can prepare financially for something so devastating. Her family’s official GoFundMe page can be found here.