“He did exactly what he said he would do,” says Sonya Massey’s father. “He told my child he would shoot her in the effing face. And all we got was a second-degree murder conviction?” In Massey’s state of Illinois, first-degree murder includes the intention of bodily harm or killing another, or knowledge of strong probability that the harm is great or could cause death.
That’s why Massey’s family is outraged.
Because less than 2% of cops involved in fatal shootings are prosecuted for murder, Sean Grayson’s conviction was rare. But that doesn’t make it justice. One study found that Black suspects were 2.4 times more likely to face first-degree murder charges when their victims were white. And according to Prison Policy, “homicides with Black victims and white perpetrators are much more likely to be deemed ‘justifiable.’”
In the 1800s, self-defense was used to justify lynchings. Now there’s Stand Your Ground. In both cases, white perpetrators have used racialized fear to dodge accountability.
Grayson evaded a first-degree premeditation narrative by insisting that Massey scared him. And the jury bought it.
That baseless fear isn’t our responsibility. But it’s getting us killed. “What we need to do…is…deconstruct and rebuild a new justice system,” says Massey’s cousin, Sontae Massey. “We have to, or else things like this are going to keep on happening.”