Sonya Massey’s family reaches $10 million settlement with Sangamon County over fatal shooting

CHICAGO (CBS) — Sangamon County officers have reached a $10 million settlement settlement with the household of Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed in her dwelling by a sheriff’s deputy final yr after calling 911.

In accordance with a memo obtained by CBS News, county officers negotiated the $10 million settlement by way of mediation following “intensive confidential discussions” between attorneys for the county and legal professionals for Massey’s household.

Massey, 36, was shot and killed in her home close to Springfield on July 6, 2024.

Simply minutes after Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy and different officers responded to Massey’s 911 name a couple of potential prowler outdoors her dwelling Grayson shot and killed Massey in her kitchen when she checked on a pot of boiling water in her personal kitchen whereas saying, “I rebuke you within the title of Jesus.”

Grayson later stated he felt threatened by her, however he was fired from the sheriff’s workplace and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and official misconduct in Massey’s loss of life. He has pleaded not responsible to all prices and stays in jail, but is fighting in court to be released from custody whereas he awaits trial.

The $10 million settlement with Massey’s household should be authorized by the Sangamon County Board. 

“This settlement is a part of Sangamon County’s ongoing efforts to deal with the tragic loss of life of Sonya Massey. Along with this settlement, the county is concentrated on bettering its insurance policies and practices by way of its memorandum of settlement with the U.S. Division of Justice. That settlement establishes measures to refine disaster response, improve coaching, and construct group belief,” Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter wrote in a memo to the county board.

The memo additionally states the settlement won’t require any tax improve, and the county won’t tackle any further debt or scale back any companies to pay for the settlement.

“No worth paid can take again the actions of a rogue former deputy, however this settlement is an effort to offer some measure of recompense to the Massey household for his or her unimaginable loss. The county stays dedicated to working with the group to strengthen insurance policies to strive to make sure tragedies like this by no means occur once more,” Van Meter wrote.

Sangaman County Board member Sam Cahnman stated he expects the decision to approve the settlement with Massey’s household might be authorized at Tuesday night time’s board assembly.

“I feel it will likely be authorized, and I am glad Sonya Massey’s household will now get some reduction from this nightmare,” he stated.

However how the county can pay up continues to be up within the air. Cahnman stated he is unsure how the county will afford the $10 million settlement.

“The unusual factor is we’ve got a settlement fund, and there is solely $1.5 million {dollars} in that fund,” he stated.

Cahnman stated Van Meter should make clear how this settlement whereas fulfilling the promise of avoiding a tax hike, further borrowing, or service cuts.

“He has not defined the place the cash is to pay this settlement, and that is one thing that I’m demanding that he disclose to the county board earlier than we vote on this on Tuesday night,” Cahnman stated.

For Massey’s household, the settlement is a victory of their pursuit for justice.

In latest statements, Massey’s household has stated they are going to proceed to carry various county officers accountable for the circumstances that led to her homicide.

“We will get justice for positive. I do know. We’re, for positive,” her son, Malachi Hill-Massey, stated weeks after the capturing.

Feb. 12 would have been Massey’s thirty seventh birthday, and her household is planning an indication on the state capitol that day.

The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Workplace agreed final month to be monitored by the U.S. Justice Department for 2 years, however the way forward for that settlement is unsure. Civil rights agreements reached on the finish of the Biden administration are actually beneath assessment by officers in President Trump’s Justice Division.

Meantime, a coalition of county board members have despatched a letter to the Massey Fee – a residents’ panel shaped in response to Massey’s homicide – requesting they ask the Illinois Legal professional Common or Illinois State Police to analyze the Sangamon County Sheriff’s workplace, saying they do not consider the Justice Division settlement is ample or might be enforced. The fee will deal with that request at their subsequent assembly on Feb. 10.