US president, Joe Biden issues statement on police shooting of black woman who called 911 fearing an intruder was in her home

US President Joe Biden has reacted to the killing of an unarmed Black woman by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy in her house.

Sonya Massey, a mother of two, was shot de@d by Sean Grayson, who had visited her house with another deputy after she called 911 to report a potential intruder earlier this month.

The horrifying incident was caught on a body camera and released to the public.

While the deputies and Massey, 36, first had a normal conversation, things took a turn for the worse when Grayson asked Massey to drop a pot of hot water, and then fatally shot her in the face.

Body cam video shows Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two sitting on her couch, volunteering to give the deputies some paperwork and looking for her ID.

Deputy Sean Grayson then notices a pot on the stove, asks Massey to check on it, and gives her Massey permission to move it. He says they don’t need a fire in the house. 

The video then shows Massey turning off the flame on the stove and picking up the pot.

“Where are you going?” Massey is heard saying.  “Away from your hot, steaming water,” Grayson says.

“Away from my hot steaming water?” Massey seems to say in the video. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

“What?” Grayson says.

“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey says.

“You’d better f***ing not. I swear to God, I’ll f***ing shoot you right in your f***ing face,” Grayson says.

He then raises his gun, a 9mm pistol, and yells at Massey to “drop the f***ing pot!”

Massey is seen apologizing and ducking for cover, at which point Grayson shoots her. Three shots are heard in the video.

Grayson did not activate his body camera until after firing the shots, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said. But his partner had his on and captured shots.

After the shooting, Grayson allegedly advised his partner not to give medical aid to Massey because of the severity of her injuries. When the other deputy says he is going to get his med kit just after the shooting, Grayson is heard saying: “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a headshot.”

Prosecutors have said that Massey did not pose any threat to Grayson.

President Joe Biden issued a statement condemning the deputy’s actions and saying Sonya Massey “should be alive today.”

“Sonya Massey, a beloved mother, friend, daughter and young Black woman, should be alive today. Sonya called the police because she was concerned about a potential intruder. When we call for help, all of us as Americans – regardless of who we are or where we live – should be able to do so without fearing for our lives,” Biden said in a statement.

“Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often, Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not. Sonya’s family deserves justice,” he added.

Deputy Sean Grayson, who is white, has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder and other charges.