Autopsy confirms Sonya Massey died from gunshot wound to head, as attorney calls shooting senseless

By John O’Connor and Rick CallahanThe Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsy findings released July 26 on Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman fatally shot in her Illinois home by a now-fired sheriff’s deputy charged in her death, confirm that she died from a gunshot wound to the head.The report was released shortly before civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, denounced the killing by ex-sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson as senseless, unnecessary and excessive.Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the family of Sonya Massey, stands next to a diagram from the slain woman’s autopsy on July 26, 2024, in Springfield, Ill., and gestures to show the downward angle in which Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson shot Massey in the face early on July 6. Massey had called 911 with suspicions of a prowler near her Springfield home. Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. (AP Photo/John O’Connor) Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon had previously disclosed initial findings on Massey’s July 6 death in Springfield and the full autopsy report released July 26 confirmed those conclusions, including that her death was a homicide.In addition to the bullet striking her just beneath...