Sonya Massey’s father says family was ‘misled’ about her death and ‘never told’ she was shot by police

James Wilburn, Sonya Massey’s father, says the recently released body-worn camera footage of his daughter’s fatal police shooting is “probably the scariest, most heartbreaking thing (our family) has ever seen in our lives,” but he’s grateful the footage exists.

“If it weren’t for the body camera footage, we wouldn’t have known it happened,” Wilburn said.CBS Mornings” host Gayle King sat next to family attorney Ben Crump on Wednesday.

Grayson, who was fired from the force, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and abuse of authority. It was also revealed that the officer bounced between law enforcement agencies over the past 4 years. While the disgraced officer claimed Massey “came to (him) with boiling water,” court documents filed by prosecutors characterised her as “calm, possibly ill and non-aggressive” through the interaction.

Wilburn said that originally neither he nor Massey’s family were informed that her death was the results of a police-involved shooting.

“I was never told it was a deputy-involved shooting. We were under the impression that she was killed by an intruder or some other person off the street and they just walked in and found her dead,” Wilburn told King, later noting that there have been even rumors that his daughter’s injuries were self-inflicted.

With the general public release of body-worn camera footage by the Illinois State Police on Monday, a clearer picture of Massey’s final moments has emerged, including a tense exchange wherein she tells officers, “I put you out in the name of Jesus” while complying with their demands. She will also be heard apologizing to Grayson as he points a gun at her, just seconds before he walks as much as her and makes good on his verbal threat to “shoot (her) in the face.”

“I think she was afraid for her life,” Wilburn said when asked to elucidate what his daughter might need meant by the reprimand. “There was something, some feeling she had… It’s just inexplicable.”

Also inexplicable is why Grayson didn’t activate his recording equipment until after the shooting; the footage got here from the second deputy’s body-worn camera.

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IN statement In a press release released Tuesday, President Joe Biden issued his own rebuke, saying partly:

“Sonya Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter, and young black woman, needs to be alive today… When we call for help, all of us as Americans – regardless of who we’re or where we live – should have the option to accomplish that without fear for our lives.

“Sonya’s death at the hands of an officer responding to the situation reminds us that too often, black Americans fear for their safety in a way that many of us do not,” he added, speaking in support of the long-delayed passage of the bill. George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

Massey family attorney Crump delivered a more pointed message when a press conference Monday: “Until we see justice for Sonia Massey, we will continue to condemn this discriminatory justice system in the name of Jesus.”