SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A riveted nation watched video released this week of a sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who called 911 for assistance, in her Illinois home.
Sean Grayson, 14 months into his career as a deputy sheriff for Sangamon County in the center of the state, is charged with murder in Massey’s death, the latest example of law enforcement officers shooting Black people in their homes across the country.
Here’s what we know about the shooting and the former deputy now facing years in prison if convicted.
What happened that day?
At 12:50 a.m. on July 6, Massey called 911 with her fears about a prowler around her home in an unincorporated neighborhood of Springfield, 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.
Video from body cameras worn by Grayson and another deputy show a search around Massey’s house and in surrounding yards. They found a black SUV with broken windows in an…