Thousands of people across the country took part in a national day of mourning Sunday for Sonya Massey.
Former Police Deputy Sean Grayson shot and killed the Illinois Black woman in her home earlier this month.
The case is renewing calls for justice and police reform and raising questions about the use of deadly police force.
Body cam footage shows the disturbing moment Grayson, who is white, shot and killed the 36-year-old mother of two.Â
Massey had called 911 to report a prowler at her Springfield, IL home. Grayson and his partner responded to the call.Â
When deputies told Massey to remove a pot of boiling water from the stove things quickly escalated.
Massey invoked the name of Jesus before being shot, saying, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."
Grayson shot Massey, who was unarmed, in the head. He is then heard calling for EMS and the other deputy said, "I'm gonna go get my kit."
"She's done. You can go get it, but that's a headshot," Grayson responds.
Grayson has since been fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department and arrested for murder and other charges.Â
"My first reaction was anger," Alees Edwards, a member of Chicago's 11th District Police Council told CBN News. "Of course I was sad. There was just a lot of hurt on the inside just because me as a Black female living in the Black community, seeing this often."
The case highlights troubling behavior in Grayson's past.
According to court records he held six different police jobs over the past four years. In 2015 and 2016 came two DUI misdemeanors and before that an Army discharge for misconduct.
Given that history, Edwards joins many others who argue that Grayson should not have been allowed in law enforcement.
"Even when an officer is sanctioned and found out, they just move around to other places and then they're able to continue their misbehavior, their bad behavior, their misconduct," said Edwards.
Grayson also failed to activate his body camera until after firing the fatal shots, a violation of the state's "Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity Today Act," also known as the Safe-T Act.
Carlton Mayers, Esq., helped to create the legislation which includes standards for the use of police force.
Mayers said in an interview with CBN News, "We can see that law enforcement did not utilize the training that is now mandated under state law when it comes to de-escalation when it comes to crisis intervention techniques, trainings, and even when it comes to just, in general, implicit bias and how you engage with people that have a different lived experience than your own."
Read more on CBNNews.com.
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