When Sonya Massey was shot to death in her kitchen by a white Sangamon County sheriff's deputy, the tragedy devastated the Black single mother's children and her large, extended family in the Springfield area.
But the ripple effect of Massey's July 6 death in her Woodside Township home has extended far beyond central Illinois. It put Sangamon County in the national media spotlight in ongoing conversations about race relations, institutional racism, police brutality, economic inequities and mental health care.
While Massey's alleged murderer, former deputy Sean Grayson, 30, of Riverton, sits in jail awaiting trial, his actions, captured on body-worn police cameras, continue to reverberate in the community through the newly formed Massey Commission, the hiring of a new Sangamon County sheriff and ongoing scrutiny of the sheriff's office and other police agencies.
People saying Massey's name in Springfield, Chicago and Washington, D.C., continue to advocate for justice, not just locally but through the Black Lives Matter movement and efforts in the Illinois General Assembly and Congress to reform policing.
The decision by readers of Illinois Times to vote Massey "Best Unsung Hero" was gratifying to her niece, Shadia Massey, one of the first relatives at the scene of her death – someone who helped clean up her aunt's blood from the kitchen floor.
Shadia Massey, 43, a Springfield resident who works as a certified nurse assistant and bar manager and is a single mother herself, said she was amazed Sonya's death could "pull so many people together." Shadia said she is grateful that "people are appreciating" her aunt.
One form of local appreciation came with the Springfield City Council's decision to rename the Clear Lake Avenue pedestrian bridge as the Massey Memorial Bridge. On the bridge is a mural of Sonya Massey painted by Springfield artist Austin Wells.
The mural was voted "Best Public Art" in the 2024 Best of Springfield contest.
Shadia Massey, one of three cochairs of the Massey Commission, a group tasked with advising elected leaders on ways to restore trust in police, said her aunt is a "hero for Springfield" who, even in death, "is making change to our community and to the world."
