Crime
Body camera footage shows chaotic scene of fatal shooting of Sonya Massey who called 911
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Sonya Massey ducked and apologized to an Illinois sheriff’s deputy seconds before he shot a Black woman thrice in her home, including once fatally in the top, in accordance with body camera footage released Monday.
An Illinois grand jury last week indicted former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, 30, who is white. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and abuse of authority.
The recording confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of a tense moment when Grayson shouted from behind the counter for Massey to placed on a pot of hot water. He then threatened to shoot her, Massey ducked, briefly stood up, and Grayson fired a gun at her.
Authorities said Massey, 36, had called 911 earlier to report a suspicious vagrant. The video shows two deputies arriving just before 1 a.m. July 6 at her home in Springfield, 200 miles (322 km) southwest of Chicago. They first walked across the house and located a black SUV with smashed windows within the driveway.
It took Massey three minutes to open the door after the officers knocked, and she or he immediately said, “Don’t hurt me.”
She seemed confused as they talked on the door, and repeated that she needed help, invoking God and saying she didn’t know who the automobile belonged to.
At the home, officers seemed irritated as she sat on the couch and searched her purse, asking for identification in order that they could fill out a report before leaving. Grayson then pointed to a pot on the stove.
“We don’t need to light a fire while we’re here,” he said.
Massey immediately stood up and went to the stove, moving the pot near the sink. She and Grayson appeared to laugh over the pot of “steaming hot water” before she suddenly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
“You better not (expletive) do that or I swear to God I’m gonna (expletive) shoot you in the (expletive) face.” He then pulled out a 9mm handgun and demanded she put the weed down.
Massey said, “OK, I’m sorry.” Grayson’s body camera footage shows him pointing the gun at her. She ducked and put her hands up.
Grayson was still within the front room, facing Massey and separated by the counter that divided the front room from the kitchen. Prosecutors said the separation allowed Grayson each “distance and relative shelter” from Massey and the pot of hot water.
After Grayson shot her, he dissuaded his partner from reaching for the primary aid kit to save lots of her.
“You can go for it, but it’s a headshot,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”
He added: “What else can we do? I’m not taking hot (expletive) boiling water on my (expletive) face.”
Noticing that Massey was still respiratory, he relented and said he would grab his kit, too. The second deputy said, “We can at least try to stop the bleeding.”
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Grayson told responding police, “She had boiling water and came to me with boiling water. She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came to me with boiling water.”
During a Monday afternoon news conference, the family’s attorney, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, called Grayson’s “revisionist” justification “disingenuous.”
“She needed a helping hand. She didn’t need a bullet in the face,” Crump said of Massey.
Asked why Massey told Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Crump said she had been receiving treatment for mental health issues. He noted that she had been calling on God’s name from the start of the encounter and asked for a Bible when officers entered.
During Massey’s funeral on Friday, Crump said the footage he and his family had already watched would “shock the conscience of America.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, demanded that the district court conduct the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators completely openly and transparently with the general public.
“The only time I’ll see my baby is when I leave this world,” Wilburn said. “And I don’t want anyone else in the United States to join that league.”
Grayson, who was released last week, stays within the Sangamon County Jail without bail. If convicted, he faces a sentence of 45 years to life in prison for murder, 6 to 30 years for assault and a pair of to five years for the misdemeanor.
His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.
President Joe Biden said in an announcement that he and first lady Jill Biden are praying for Massey’s family “as they face this unimaginable and senseless loss.”
“When we call for help, all of us as Americans — no matter who we are or where we live — should be able to do so without fear for our lives,” Biden said. “Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that too often, black Americans fear for their safety in ways that many of us do not.”
Massey’s death is the most recent case of black people being killed by police in their very own homes lately.
In May, a Hispanic Florida sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Roger Fortson when the Air Force private answered the door of his Fort Walton Beach home with a gun pointed down. The deputy, Eddie Duran, was fired.
In 2019, a white Fort Worth, Texas, police officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through the back window of her home after responding to a non-emergency call that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, a former police officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to just about 12 years in prison.
In 2018, a white Dallas police officer fatally shot Botham Jean, who was unarmed after mistaking his apartment for his own. Amber Guyger, a former police officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Crump has represented families in each case as part of his efforts to force accountability for police killings of black people. Crump also represented relatives of Earl Moore, a Springfield man who died after being strapped facedown to a gurney in December 2022. Two paramedics in that case face murder charges.
Crime
Luigi Mangione, 26, in police custody in connection with the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO
New York authorities have identified 26-year-old Luigi Mangione as an individual of interest in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to police, a McDonald’s worker recognized Mangione in a photograph taken by NYPD Crime Stoppers and called authorities to report that he was eating at the restaurant, which led to his arrest.
Police say Mangione was carrying an anti-corporate manifesto, false identification and a ghost gun.
“It fits the description we were looking for,” Mayor Eric Adams said. An early NYPD report drew criticism online for calling the suspect a “light-skinned male” fairly than simply saying he was white.
The New York Post reports that Mangione previously attended the University of Pennsylvania, was valedictorian of the highschool in 2016 and had ties to Towson, Maryland. His social media posts indicate motivation related to dissatisfaction with the health care industry.
The shooting gained national attention because of the lukewarm response to Thompson’s death from many voters, who criticized the high insurance denial rate and greed that contributed to the American loss of life.
NYPD officers will now travel to Pennsylvania to query Mangione. Watch the entire press conference below:
Crime
OJ Simpson’s audio testimony claims have been proven false
Iroc Avelli, OJ Simpson’s former bodyguard, claimed to have a recording of the late NFL player admitting to killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. According to .evaluation of the audio recording showed the claim to be false.
In June 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) contacted the Bloomington, Minnesota police department to realize access to thumb drives confiscated during Avelli’s 2022 arrest.
Bloomington Police Department arrested Avelli for alleged assault in 2022; upon arrest, the police seized Avelli’s backpack and obtained an order to gather relevant evidence on the scene. The backpack contained multiple flash drives that the previous security guard said contained Simpson’s confessions.
According to Peasant! News“search warrant filed in Hennepin County requested by Officer George Harms seek for image pendrives in order that “a full forensic examination could possibly be carried out on all of the pendrives to acquire the recording.”
The Bloomington Police Department didn’t return the drives, opting as an alternative to conduct an internal forensic examination. After a digital forensics specialist examined the drives, Bloomington police didn’t disclose any information of “probative value” to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The further investigation into the Simpson and Goldman murders is strange because on October 3, 1995, OJ Simpson was acquitted of all charges. The former San Francisco 49er maintained his innocence until his death from cancer on April 11, 2024.
After his acquittal, OJ Simpson continued to benefit from his fame. In 1996, the Buffalo Bills player published a book titled If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer. Many found the book’s title and content distasteful and criticized it Naked weapon the actor’s constant presence in celebrity culture.
However, many individuals imagine that Simpson’s acquittal ought to be enough to just accept his presence in all spaces. BLACK ENTERPRISES reports on rapper Cam’Ron’s response to criticism after Simpson was invited on his sports show before his death.
The It is what it’s the host and businessman believes that the accusations – proven in court – shouldn’t result in ostracization. Cam’Ron believes that Simpson’s race may have played a job in continuously questioning his innocence throughout his life.
“Look, if he was guilty, we wouldn’t have him on the show,” he said. “You wish to proceed convicting an innocent man. He is innocent. If it was another person, whiter, you’d all say, “Oh, he’s innocent.” TO BE reported.
It appears that the hearings and investigation into Orenthol James Simpson’s role, or lack thereof, in his ex-wife’s murder will proceed even after his death.
Crime
Suspect charged with fatally shooting 3-year-old on Thanksgiving Day
Tatisha Refuge, a 47-year-old New Orleans resident, turned herself in to authorities after the death of 3-year-old Rudy Ratliff. Refuge is charged with “manslaughter by negligence.”
Rudy’s mother, Leshawn Ratliff, lives in Texas but visited Refuge, her foster mother, in the previous few days of Thanksgiving. Nov 8 News.
“I came here on Saturday to pick up my older son. He was here over Thanksgiving break, and I came down on Saturday to pick him up so we could go home on Sunday and they could go back to school on Monday.” Ratliff he said.
While playing UNO, Refuge’s unsecured gun fell from her belt and fired, striking Rudy. Ratliff she recounted how the scene unfolded when she discovered Rudy had been shot.
“I began seeing blood coming out of his chest. That’s once I knew he had been shot. So I called 911.
The mother didn’t wish to wait for 911. Instead, she decided to take Rudy to University Medical Center for treatment. She said that after they arrived at the ability, Rudy seemed to be alive. Unfortunately, 20 minutes later she was informed of his death.
Tatisha Refuge has been charged with negligent homicide within the shooting death of 3-year-old Rudy Ratliff. #Khou11 @AmandaHTV
https://t.co/BFIeGhAHYG— KHOU 11 Houston News (@KHOU) December 4, 2024
Ratliff she nurtured her relationship with Refuge and is torn now that the accusations involve her foster mother.
“It was a random shooting. His grandfather’s gun fell. It wasn’t within the secure. It wasn’t within the gun position. I believe it went into the pocket and fell out and shot my son,” Ratliff said. “I understand it was a mistake. I imagine in my heart that it was a mistake. I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand.
The grieving mother began a GoFundMe and is asking the general public for help with Rudy’s burial. To support the Ratliff family of their time of need, click here.
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