Community members want answers after woman shot by deputies

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - According to the Sangamon County Coroner and Sangamon County officials, 36 year-old Sonya Massey died in the hospital after being shot by Sangamon County Sheriffs Deputies.

The coroner says Massey was shot at her home at 1:20 am and community members want to know what led to Massey's death.

"There's already a large amount of stigma surrounding the police and the black community, that is very well known," said Tiara Standage, a community activist whose family lives near Massey. "When things like this happen in our community, it only makes the stigma bigger and creates a bigger divide between the police and the black community."

Standage says in situations where a person is shot, law enforcement needs to be transparent about everything that led to the shooting, including releasing body camera video.

"There's no body cam footage, being released, there's no information being released right now," said Standage. "So it just leads to speculation and I think that the Sangamon County Sheriff's and the police department, they need to come forward with the information about what happened to Sonya Massey."

Standage is planning a protest at the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office at 9am on Friday.

WAND News reached out to the Illinois State Police and the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office to ask why officers shot Massey, if she was armed, how many shots were fired, and if deputies were placed on leave following the shooting. Both departments said they couldn't answer our questions.