Sonya Massey’s family and Sangamon County agree to $10M settlement over fatal shooting

Officials in Sangamon County, Illinois, have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey –– a Black woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement in her home last year.

Officials in Sangamon County, Illinois, have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey –– a Black woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement in her home last year. The agreement was reached last week after mediation between lawyers representing both parties, according to a resolution posted by the Sangamon County Board. The settlement was unanimously approved by the county board Tuesday evening. Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two, was killed July 6 after two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies responded to her 911 call about a possible prowler at her home. She was shot and killed following a dispute with one of the responding deputies involving a pot of boiling water in her kitchen, body camera footage showed. Massey’s family has said she struggled with mental health issues, and dispatch records showed the sheriff’s department had been told she was experiencing a mental health crisis. One of the deputies, Sean Grayson, was fired and remains jailed on a first-degree murder charge. He has pleaded not guilty.