Current:Home > ScamsEchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|New Sonya Massey video shows officer offering help hours before fatal shooting -Ascend Finance Compass
EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center|New Sonya Massey video shows officer offering help hours before fatal shooting
FinLogic FinLogic Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 11:44:21
Sitting in the passenger's seat of her car,EchoSense Quantitative Think Tank Center Sonya Massey was sobbing, fretting over her family and her two kids and the power and water being turned off at her Hoover Street home in Woodside Township, Illinois.
Massey was the subject of a 911 call shortly after 9 a.m. on July 5 made by her mother, Donna Massey, who said she was having "a mental breakdown." Massey had been staying at her mother's home on Cedar Street in nearby Springfield.
Newly released body camera footage shows Massey at one point saying, "I don't know what to do," though several suggestions have been made to help that is available.
Massey then confirmed she had her medication and was going to take it.
EXCLUSIVE:Ex-deputy who killed Sonya Massey had history of complaints involving women
The roughly 45-minute footage shows a Springfield Police officer, who had responded to a call about Massey the week before, talking to her calmly.
"(Your kids) are worried about you, too," the officer said. "They're both good. Everybody just wants you to be OK, that's all it is."
"Right now," another Springfield officer told her, "you have to take care of yourself. That's the best way for you to take care (of your kids)."
After talking to a Memorial Behavioral Health specialist, Massey drove off.
Less than 16 hours, she would be fatally shot by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy.
The July 6 killing of Massey has sparked a national outcry over police brutality, coast-to-coast demonstrations and a federal probe by the Department of Justice.
Body camera footage from that day shows Massey, in a thin dressing gown, apologizing to the white deputy as he drew his gun when she picked up a pan of hot water, and then said “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” seconds before the deputy fired.
Audio of the previous day's 911 call was released earlier by Sangamon County, but two videos from body-worn cameras were recently provided to The State Journal-Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, after the newspaper put in a Freedom of Information Act request with the city of Springfield.
While worried about some things, Massey was also effusive with her praise, thanking workers and calling them "blessed" and "beautiful."
"We're here," another Springfield officer tells her in the approximately 45-minute engagement, "to help you."
"God bless. Thank you all," Massey said. "I'm going to do what I need to do."
In the 911 call, Donna Massey said her daughter wasn't a danger to herself and "she's not a danger to me."
"I don't want you guys to hurt her, please," she said in the audio.
Springfield Police responded because Donna Massey's home was within the city. Sonya Massey's Hoover Street home is an unincorporated part of Woodside Township.
Right when officers arrived, Massey was in the front yard, pleading for her clothes, planner and medicine, among other things.
"They won't give it to me," said Massey, referring to her mother and other relatives in the home.
Inside her home, Donna Massey acknowledged her daughter's recent release from a mental facility in southern Illinois, from which she voluntarily checked out.
More:'They will have leadership.' Coroner steps in as temporary Sangamon County Sheriff
Sonya, her mother told an officer, has two personalities: "a very sweet one and (then) she'll flip the script."
"I know this is not my daughter," Donna Massey added. "We just want her to be OK."
"She's sporadic," Sonya's aunt added. "I've never seen her like this. I want the old Sonya back."
Massey was seen on the video being quizzed by an emergency medical worker about what year it is and who is the president, among other questions. She answered them all correctly.
Later in the video, Massey talked to a behavioral health specialist. Other records indicated that while Massey didn't seek immediate help, she did go to HSHS St. John's Hospital later in the day "to seek treatment of her mental state" after an alleged confrontation with her neighbor.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; [email protected]; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- The West is running out of water. A heavy snow could help, but will it come this winter?
- Megan Rapinoe hobbles off the pitch after injury early in the final match of her career
- Mexico’s ruling party names gubernatorial candidates, but questions remain about unity
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Barbie Secrets Revealed: All the Fantastic Behind-the-Scenes Bombshells
- US military says 5 crew members died when an aircraft crashed over the Mediterranean
- NFL playoff picture: Which teams are looking good after Week 10?
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Michael Strahan Returns to Fox NFL Sunday After 2-Week Absence
Ranking
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- The West is running out of water. A heavy snow could help, but will it come this winter?
- Today I am going blind: Many Americans say health insurance doesn't keep them healthy
- Fire closes major highway in Los Angeles
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes': Cast, trailer and when it hits theaters
- 32 things we learned in NFL Week 10: C.J. Stroud running away in top rookie race
- Fantasy football waiver wire Week 11 adds: 5 players you need to consider picking up now
Recommendation
Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
Dr. Pepper teases spicy new flavor 'Hot Take' exclusive to rewards members
White House releases plan to grow radio spectrum access, with possible benefits for internet, drones
Las Vegas hotel and casino workers reach tentative deals to avoid strike
'Most Whopper
No. 1 Georgia deserves the glory after the Bulldogs smash No. 10 Mississippi
Charity works to help military families whose relationships have been strained by service
For the first time, gene-editing provides hints for lowering cholesterol