by Sharelle Burt
July 25, 2024
Let’s hope this family gets the justice they deserve…
The son of Sonya Massey is accusing the Sangamon County Police Department of trying to cover up his mother’s death.
During a press conference on July 23, Malachi Hill-Massey described the moments when he found out his mother was a victim of police brutality. The 17-year-old suggested the hospital explained his mother’s injuries but never said who gave them to her. “Well, they told me, well, I got a call from the hospital, actually, I never got a call from the police, but they told me that my mom got shot in the eye and it came out her neck,” he said.
“And they didn’t tell me who, they were just saying ‘somebody’.’ They never would tell me who. They just kept on saying someone shot her. They would never tell me who shot my mom.”
The grieving son said he had to give the bad news to his grandmother. The teenager sat down for an interview with CBS News with his grandmother, Donna Massey. She experienced the same story her grandson spoke of and said the police kept changing their story, even telling the doctors Massey committed suicide.
“They said it’s under investigation, then they said that they told the doctors at the hospital that she committed suicide—and then they changed it,” Donna Massey said. “They kept changing the story.”
However, Hill-Massey said the case isn’t over as he is determined to get justice for the woman he called “a ball of love.”
Massey was shot by Grayson on July 6 after she called police over a suspected prowler. Things turned deadly when body-cam footage showed Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey after he told her to move a pot of water that was heating up on the stove. Before she could actually move the pot, he “aggressively yelled” at Massey and pulled out his 9mm service weapon.
The victim then responded by putting her hands in the air and saying, “I’m sorry.” She tried to duck for cover, but Grayson shot her in the face. Experts say Massey wasn’t considered a reasonable threat at the time she was killed. University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor and use-of-force expert David Harris said the first mistake made by both Grayson and his partner was entering Massey’s home.
“This never had to happen,” Harris said. “The whole encounter could have ended on the front porch.”
According to The Guardian, attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, said the Department of Justice has launched an investigation. “What we don’t want to happen is a Laquan McDonald situation,” Crump said, referring to the 17-year-old boy who was shot 16 times by police in 2015.
The whole ordeal was caught on video and the police department and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fought to keep the footage from the public’s eye.
