“Enough” with the Cover up

(Staff, St. Croix, July 28, 2024).

More details emerge concerning the murder of Sonya Massey.

Officers delayed calling for medical help and the initial reports included false statements from the deputys at the scene.

Family members claim they were given different versions of the cause of death.

Explanations ranged from an intruder break-in to a self-inflicted gun shot wound. James Wilburn, father of Massey spoke on CBS Morning, “I was never told it was a ‘deputy-involved’ shooting.

We were under the impression that she was killed by the intruder, or some other person from the street. And that they [police] just went in and found her dead body.

In the interview he explained, “We were all mislead. There was even a story that this was a self-inflicted.”  It was only after the body cam footage was released did they understand that she had been killed by police. 

Following community protests, repeated requests, and an official demand from the public, body cam footage from the incident, was released on Monday, July 22, fifteen days after the murder.

At a vigil held in Wilmington, local activist Rebecca Trammel asked “How many times’ or ‘say his name’ – another hashtag? Another statistic?” She passionately poses the question, ‘how may times have we had to say, ‘say her name?”

The outrage by the public after seeing the footage is indisputable, and swift action was taken against the perpetrator, Sean Grayson, 30,who was fired from the department. Two weeks after murdering Massey, he was arrested and booked on five counts, including three counts of first-degree murder denied bond. 

Her parents and the infamous attorney Ben Crump allege that the murder is part of a police cover-up that includes false reports initially given by police officials.

Wilburn maintains, “The cover-up started right after it happened…thank God for the body cam footage.”