The calls for service raise questions about what information former-Deputy Sean Grayson had when he responded to Massey’s home July 6th
CHICAGO – Two days before being fatally shot by former Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson, Sonya Massey called 911 and told a dispatcher “someone is trying to hurt me.”
Her mother also called 911 the next day on July 5th, telling a dispatcher her daughter was having a mental breakdown and was not dangerous but paranoid.
She added: "She's been sporadic and I don't want you guys to hurt her, please."
Springfield police responded to that call at the home of Sonya Massey’s mother, Donna, because her house is in that agency’s jurisdiction.
But when Sonya called 911 later day around 12:50 p.m., the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call at Sonya’s home.
On the 911 call, Sonya reports someone is breaking her car windows and she can be heard making statements: “I’m about to **** you up…”
It’s not clear who she is referring to.
The dispatch records show she is taken to the hospital where she admits she is the one who broke her car window. The dispatch report also notes that Massey had recently been released from a mental treatment facility in Granite City and had a called a mobile crisis line three times in the past two weeks.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
The newly released records from Sangamon County raise more questions about what information was shared between both police agencies and what information former deputy Sean Grayson had about Massey's mental state when he responded to the call of a suspected prowler at Massey's home on July 6.
We posed that question to Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, who declined to comment in an email to NBC 5 Investigates.
In the minutes before his body-camera shows him firing his service weapon at Massey, the two are standing on her porch and he asks her if "you doing alright mentally?"
The shooting happens minutes later when Grayson and another deputy are inside her home and Massey is removing a pot of water from her stove. She makes the remark "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
And that's when Grayson pulls his firearm and tells her to put the pot down.
Sean Grayson is currently being held after being indicted on several charges, including aggravated murder, for Massey’s death.
The Fraternal Order of Police, which had filed a grievance on Grayson’s behalf after he was fired from the sheriff’s office, said Tuesday it would no longer pursue that.
Calls and emails placed with the Sangamon Sheriff’s Office were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Sheriff Jack Campbell said of Massey: “We failed her. We did not do our jobs.” He has rebuffed calls to resign.
Springfield Police Deputy Chief Sara Pickford told NBC 5 Investigates that she did not know what information was shared but the fact that these events occurred over multiple days and involved different agencies and different shifts of law enforcement officers may play a role in what’s communicated.
Questions surrounding the information sharing are top of mind for county leaders as well.
"I think Sonya Massey. She needed help. And she was asking for help and she didn't get it. What happened to her is unconscionable and my heart is breaking for Sonya Massey and her family and friends."
County board member Marc Ayers told NBC 5 Investigates that death of Sonya Massey will likely spur conversations about how law enforcement responds to these types of calls in the future.
"The deputy, the former deputy who responded failed her. And failed her miserably. There's just so many questions to be answered about how this could've happened in the first place."
