SANGAMON COUNTY, Ill. — The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is under investigation by the U. S. Department of Justice for civil rights violations, but the probe may go beyond the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey. The U.S. Department of Justice’s civil ...

Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department investigated by DOJ following the controversial and fatal Sonya Massey shooting

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, following allegations of misconduct and civil rights violations. The investigation has garnered significant attention and concern from the community.

The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the killing of Sonya Massey, a Black woman shot by a white police officer in July after calling to report a prowler outside her home. In a letter to Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office,

The Justice Department is opening a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of an Illinois woman inside her own home by a sheriff's deputy. Sonya Massey, 36, was killed by former Sangamon County deputy Sean Grayson in July amid an exchange over a pot of boiling water.

Massey’s killing sparked national outrage and renewed calls for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would set up a national registry of police misconduct and target racial bias and use of force.

The U.S. Justice Department is demanding records related to the shooting of an Illinois woman in her Springfield home.