Newly Released Sonya Massey Video Reveals Her State Of Distress 16 Hours Before She Was Killed

Source: John Lamparski / Getty

The more we learn about Sonya Massey, the clearer it becomes that this was a woman who needed smart, compassionate medical care, not the  trigger-happy cop who would come and end the life she was already struggling to maintain.

Newly released body camera footage revealed that less than 16 hours before Massey was shot in her Illinois home by now-former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, she’d spoken with different deputies who had responded to a call made by Massey’s mother, Donna Massey. She’d called for help because she knew her daughter was having “a mental breakdown,” which the video makes clear was the case. But help across America for people with an illness, typically means untrained, armed law enforcement. Advocates have long called for alternatives and even the more conservative National Institutes of Health reported two years ago that,

“… having armed and uniformed police as first responders to a mental health or substance abuse crisis may increase the likelihood of costly outcomes and inappropriate care. Individuals living with serious mental illness are no more prone to violence or unpredictability than the general population…[and]  having police officers as first responders to a mental health crisis can result in unnecessarily violent and tragic outcomes..”

Sonya Massey’s murder was predicted.

In the recording, released Wednesday, Massey can be seen expressing through tears of distress that she’s worried about her family, her children and her water being turned off at her residence in Woodside Township, Illinois.

From USA Today:

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.

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.

“God bless. Thank you all,” Massey told the officers. “I’m going to do what I need to do.”

16 short hours later, she was dead.

 

Source: Source: Wikipedia / Wikipedia / Source: Wikipedia / Wikipedia

During the roughly 45 minutes of newly released video footage, which NBC’s Today Show obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, an emergency medical worker is heard quizzing Massey to check her presence of mind, asking her questions like what year it is who the current president is. Massey answered all of the questions correctly and is seen later speaking to a behavioral health specialist. Today noted that 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.”

Sonya Massey was doing all she could to care for herself, but she couldn’t do it alone. But neither she nor anyone should have to do it while facing an armed and hostile cop. A mental health specialist is who should have shown up at Massey’s house on the night of July 6. She would probably still be alive, and maybe even doing well–or at least better. Certainly better than she–or her children and family–are doing now.

SEE MORE:

RIP Sonya Massey: Illinois Cops Shot Black Woman In The Head At Her Home After She Called 911 For Help

Sonya Massey’s Killer Cop Had A Work History That Should Have Kept Him Off The Job

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