A protest organizer verified that family members of Sonya Massey, a Black woman fatally shotby Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputies in her home July 6, are meeting with Illinois State Police officials Wednesday to view officers' body camera footage and the details of the case.
Tiara Standage of Springfield said the meeting is taking place at the Springfield Branch of the NAACP, 801 S. 11th St., in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, a person close to the Massey family who would not go on the record, said that civil rights attorney Ben Crump will visit Springfield on Friday, the day of Massey's funeral at Second Timothy Baptist Church.
More:A Springfield alderman is trying to get Black Lives Matter street signs up again downtown
A press representative for Crump did not immediately confirm the trip.
Standage, staging a third day of protests outside of the Sangamon County Building on Ninth Street Tuesday evening, could not confirm when the footage would be released to the public.
Master Sgt. Christopher "Joey" Watson, a spokesperson for the State Police, asked Tuesday afternoon about a timeframe for the release of the footage to the public, said via email the investigation was "ongoing" and that State Police wasn't able to release additional information at this time.
Watson referred a State Journal-Register reporter to a July 10 State Police release stating that "body worn camera video and additional information related to the incident wasn't being released in order to protect the integrity of the legal process and the right to a fair trial in the event charges are filed."
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser, reached Tuesday, declined to go on the record.
A member of Massey's family at Tuesday's protest declined to speak at Crump's directive.
Crump announced that he had been retained by Massey's family last week.
Crump, who has represented families in several high-profile civil rights cases, fileda wrongful death lawsuitagainst Peggy Jill Finley and Peter Cadigan and their employer, LifeStar Ambulance, Inc., based in Centralia, Illinois, in the Earl Moore Jr. case in 2023. Finley and Cadigan, emergency medical services workers at the time, are both charged with first-degree murder.
Following Tuesday's city council meeting, Mayor Misty Buscher said she has been in contact with Massey's father, James Wilburn.
Buscher said she was "deeply saddened by the passing of Sonya Massey" and has been praying for her family and children.
Buscher also wanted "to make sure people have the right to have their voices be heard and protest."
Buscher and Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette have had ongoing stakeholder meetings with representatives from the Faith Coalition for the Common Good, the NAACP and Black Lives Matter-Springfield.
Scarlette, reached Tuesday, said there were "no credible threats (of violence) that I'm aware of and if there were, we would be handling them appropriately.
"It is our duty and I have a diligence to ensure my community is safe, that the men and women of the Springfield Police Department are safe, that critical infrastructure throughout Springfield is safe. That's our goal at this point."
Scarlette said patrol officers have been doubling up "so they have an extra set of eyes, again, mainly for their own safety and security."
Five skywatch cameras were employed around the Springfield municipal complex late last week "more as a preventive measure than anything," he said.
Standage, the founder of Intricate Minds, a north end social service agency, said protesters have sought justice for Massey's family.
"They want prosecution of the officers, if it's found that they did wrongdoing and murdered her for no reason," Standage said.
She also downplayed any violence by the group.
"I've seen releases that we're going to riot," Standage said. "I haven't heard anything about a riot. We've been peacefully protesting, exercising our rights and we just expect transparency and accountability. Her family deserves it, but the community is very distressed about what happened.
"I don't foresee any violence from the community. They just want answers and a peace of mind for her mother, her children and her family."
About 15 or so people helped chalk the sidewalk in front of the county building with messages like "Justice 4 Sonya Massey."
Sheriff's deputies responded to Massey's home in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue because of a possible intruder. A news release from the county said that deputies reported shots had been fired about 30 minutes after the 911 call.
Massey, 36, died of a single gunshot wound, according to Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon.
Sangamon County spokesperson Jeff Wilhite confirmed that the two deputies who initially responded are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Contact StevenSpearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
