Protestors demand release of video in Black woman's death

As recently as two weeks ago, Sonya Massey was acting “extremely paranoid” and had voiced concerns for months “about being killed by the police,” her cousin, Sontae Massey, told Illinois Times.

Sontae Massey said July 11 that he is not sure why his 36-year-old cousin was exhibiting such anxiety. But Sontae Massey, 53, a manager for the Springfield Housing Authority, said it was obvious his cousin was upset when they talked face-to-face about two weeks before her death on July 6.

“I’ve known Sonya since I was a kid,” Sontae Massey said. “She was very depressed about something. I had never seen her like that.”

It’s unknown whether the paranoia Massey detected played a role in the police-involved death of Sonya Massey, a single mother of two children who died from a single gunshot wound to the head in her home in unincorporated Woodside Township, a few blocks south of Springfield’s Bunn Golf Course.

But Sontae Massey joined a growing chorus of residents wanting more answers to questions about what led to his cousin’s death.

As many as 100 people, most of them Black, gathered July 12 along Ninth Street on the sidewalk in front of the Sangamon County Courthouse to protest the lack of information released by authorities.

The crowd chanted: “No justice, no peace – prosecute the police,” “Black lives matter,” “Black women matter,” “Say her name – Sonya Massey” and “What do we want? Bodycams! When do we want it? Now!”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, that he is representing the Massey family.
Little information has been released about the incident in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue, and two deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department who were present when Massey was shot have been put on paid leave while the Illinois State Police investigates.

The names of the deputies haven’t been released, and Alyssa Haaker, a lawyer who represents members of the Fraternal Order of Police union who work at the sheriff’s department, hasn’t responded to requests for comment.

Sheriff Jack Campbell said in a text message to Illinois Times that paid administrative leave “is standard for these type of events. This is pending the outcome of the ISP investigation.”

Tiara Standage, founder of a Springfield social-service agency, Intricate Minds, who helped organize the #StandWithSonya protest, told the crowd that paying the two police officers while on leave was an insult. And she called upon authorities to swiftly release any police body-worn camera footage and other information surrounding the incident.

“We are protesting against the wrongful death of Sonya Massey at the hands of Sangamon County sheriffs,” she said. “Why are they on paid leave at home playing PlayStation with their kids?

“Fire them killer cops. Fire them,” Standage said. “They need to be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law. Sonya Massey was killed in cold blood inside of her own home after calling for help.

“We need people, especially our own people, to stand up or nothing changes,” she said.

The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that it dispatched deputies to Massey’s home in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue at 12:30 a.m. July 6 after a 911 call reporting a prowler.

“Upon arrival, two deputies conducted a search of the area,” according to a news release from the department later that day. “At approximately 1:21 a.m., the deputies reported that shots had been fired, resulting in a female being struck by gunfire.”

The news release said the deputies immediately administered first aid until emergency medical service workers arrived. Massey was transported to HSHS St. John’s Hospital, and Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said Massey was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m. July 6 in the hospital’s emergency room.

“No deputies were injured during the incident,” the sheriff’s department news release said.

Results of an autopsy haven’t been released, but Allmon said preliminary findings show Massey died from a gunshot wound.

Crump said a statement that Massey called the police because she “thought there was an intruder in her home.”

Crump said: “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 the police at her own home. We demand that all body camera footage from the incident be released immediately so that Sonya’s family and the public can see what happened in those 30 deadly minutes.

“No family should have to endure the pain and suffering that Sonya’s loved ones are experiencing right now.”

It’s unclear when footage might be released. When contacted July 12, an ISP spokesperson wouldn’t elaborate on a July 10 statement from the state agency that said ISP is “collaborating closely with the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office to conduct a timely, comprehensive and transparent investigation.”

State’s Attorney John Milhiser declined to elaborate.

The ISP statement said: “In order to protect the integrity of the legal process and the right to a fair trial in the event charges are filed, the body-worn camera video and additional information related to the incident are not being released at this time.

“When appropriate, additional information, including the video, will be shared with Sonya Massey’s family before releasing further.”

Sangamon County Board member Sam Cahnman, a Springfield Democrat, said he wants police to release any body camera footage immediately. He said he has reached out to the sheriff to request its release and will encourage ISP to release the video, as well.

He noted that Springfield police in early December 2023 released body-worn camera footage from the police-involved shooting death of a juvenile who was trying to escape the Sangamon County Juvenile Detention Center with a hostage.

Release of video footage came in advance of the ISP completing its investigation into that incident in March 2024.

No one was charged in the Sept. 30, 2023, death of detention center inmate Camren Marcelis Darden, 17, and no police officers faced discipline in connection with the incident.

Sonya Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, 67, of Springfield, attended the July 12 protest. She looked down during most of the event and dabbed tears from her eyes. She was silent as others chanted around her.

Donna Massey briefly spoke to the crowd and the gathered news media. Her words were too soft for many in the media to hear, but Standage said Massey wondered aloud why the deputies needed to shoot a young woman who weighed 110 pounds.

People surrounding Donna Massey at the protest said the Massey family didn’t want to provide additional comment. They referred reporters to Crump, whose office didn’t return a phone call and an email.

Crump’s law firm also represented the family of Earl Moore Jr., 35, a Black resident of Springfield whose family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against LifeStar Ambulance after Moore died Dec. 18, 2022.

A LifeStar paramedic and an emergency medical technician, Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan, were charged with first-degree murder for allegedly strapping Moore face-down on an ambulance gurney outside his home in a way that led to his death by suffocation. Their criminal cases remain pending.

Sonya Massey, according to her cousin, Sontae, was a “very private person other than when she came around family.” She had two children, a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, who sometimes lived with her when they weren’t staying with their fathers, Sontae Massey said.

He said Sonya, who was unemployed at the time of her death, was her mother’s only child and part of a large, close-knit extended family.
During the rally, Standage said it was her understanding that Sonya Massey didn’t have a weapon when police arrived.

“The same people that are supposed to protect us as Black women are the same people that are killing us inside our homes,” Standage said.

Springfield resident Breonna Roberts, a downtown restaurant manager, took part in the protest and said she has been “terrified by the police” since she was a child because she has witnessed Springfield-area police harass Black people such as herself.

Roberts, 25, said authorities are “not listening” to the concerns of residents, and they “certainly don’t care about the cause.”

Springfield resident Jessica Buchanan, 46, who is white, said she has supported Black Lives Matter at other events in Springfield and wanted to show solidarity with others concerned about the latest death of a Black person involving suspicious circumstances.

Buchanan, an insurance account manager, said she witnessed unfair treatment of Black people by police when she was a college student about 25 years ago in the Chicago suburb of Aurora. She said her activism ramped up after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Buchanan said Floyd’s death was “a wake-up call for many white folks.”

Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer at Illinois Times. He can be reached at 217-836-1068, [email protected] or twitter.com/DeanOlsenIT.