Officers were called to the scene and subsequently engaged with her, one officer - Sean Grayson - has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. Her words may play a pivotal role in his defense in the impending trial.
Before being fatally wounded by a trio of bullets from the deputy sheriff's weapon, Sonya offered an apology and attempted to duck to safety. An interaction captured on body-cam footage shared this Monday showed officers asking her to remove a pot of boiling water from the stove.
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Ben Crump, a well-known civil rights lawyer representing the family, dismissed Grayson's "revisionist" justification as "disingenuous" during a press briefing on Monday afternoon.
On why Ms. Massey asserted "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," towards Grayson, Crump provided further insight into her mental health battle. He stressed that Sonya invoked the name of God from the start of the officers' intrusion, and had requested her Bible.
The video confirmed the prosecutor's account of the intense confrontation where Grayson yelled at Sonya across the kitchen counter to put down a pot of boiling water before he threatened and eventually shot her. Before the incident, Sonya had called 911 fearing an intruder might be present.
Deputies arrived at her Springfield residence just before 1 am on July 6, located about 200 miles southwest of Chicago . They found a black SUV with broken windows in her driveway.
It reportedly took Massey three minutes to answer the door after the deputies knocked, and when she did, she said: "Don't hurt me."
Clearly confused during the exchange, she repeatedly told them she needed help, mentioned God, and claimed not to know who owned the SUV.
Inside, as she sat on her couch fumbling through her purse while deputies asked for ID to complete their report, they became impatient. That's when Grayson noticed a pot on the stove over an active flame.
"We don't need a fire while we're here," he remarked. Sonya stood up and moved the pot next to the sink.
What followed was a brief moment of laughter between Massey and Grayson about her pan of "steaming hot water" until she abruptly stated: "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
The situation escalated quickly when Grayson was heard saying: "You better (expletive) not or I swear to God I'll (expletive) shoot you in your (expletive) face."
He then brandished his 9mm handgun and demanded she drop the pot.
"OK, I'm sorry," she replied. In the video captured by Grayson's body cam, his weapon was aimed at her, forcing her to raise her hands in defence.
Stationed across from Sonya in the living room, a counter separating the kitchen and lounge gave Grayson both "distance and relative cover" from Sonya and the boiling water, according to prosecutors.
After shooting Sonya, Grayson discouraged his partner from getting a medical kit for her. "You can go get it, but that's a headshot," Grayson commented. "There's nothing you can do, man."
He added: "What else do we do? I'm not taking hot (expletive) boiling water to the (expletive) face".
Noting that Massey was still gasping for air, he finally agreed to fetch his own medical kit. His partner pitched in: "We can at least try to stop the bleeding."
Grayson explained to the officers who arrived on scene: "She had boiling water and came at me, with boiling water. She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at me with boiling water."
Grayson, dismissed last week, is currently being held in Sangamon County Jail without bond.
If convicted, he could face a prison sentence ranging from 45 years to life for murder, 6 to 30 years for battery, and 2 to 5 years for misconduct.
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