Harris calls family of Sonya Massey, Illinois woman who police shot

Vice President Harris spoke Friday with the family of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who police shot and killed in her home earlier this month.

A spokesperson with Harris’s office confirmed the vice president spoke with Massey’s family. NBC News first reported on the call, and a family member said the vice president gave “her heartfelt condolences, and she let us know that she is with us, 100 percent.”

Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, called 911 to report a prowler outside her Springfield, Ill., home. Officers arrived and inspected the property and did not find a prowler.

Body camera video released by Illinois State Police showed Sean Grayson, a Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy who has since been fired, shooting Massey three times. An autopsy report released Friday found she died of a gunshot wound to her head.

The footage showed officers speaking with Massey, and the situation grew more tense when she took a pot of water off her stove. Grayson can be heard cursing at Massey, telling her “you better f‑‑‑ing not. I swear to God I will f‑‑‑ing shoot you right in your f‑‑‑ing face.”

Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, The Associated Press reported.

Harris earlier this week issued a statement saying Massey “deserved to be safe” and expressing grief over her “senseless death.”

President Biden issued a statement saying Massey’s family deserves justices and reiterating his call for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a major police reform bill named after the Minnesota man whose killing by a police officer in 2020 set off nationwide protests.