Springfield community demands answers after woman shot to death by Sangamon Co. deputies

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Nearly 100 people gathered in front of the Sangamon County Complex today to protest the death of Sonya Massey, a woman shot and killed by Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputies on Saturday.

Protestors today had three main questions:

Why did deputies shoot Massey at her home?
Why has body camera of the shooting not been released?
Why have deputies not been punished?

Both deputies involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave while Illinois State Police continue to investigate the shooting.

"She called for help from the police, deputies responded, and she was shot in her kitchen," said Tiara Standage, who organized today's protests. "We want to know why, we want to know what led up to this shooting and we want to know how it goes from calling for help to being murdered by the exact same people that are supposed to protect us."

Standage called for community members to not respond with violence as it would cause more harm than good. She did say she would continue to organize protests until body camera footage is released.

ISP has confirmed that body camera footage of the incident does exist, but won't be publicly released until it is shared with the family.

"We understand that an investigation is going on — we get that — but we understand and we also know that this is a situation that can cause a lot of havoc in our community," said Sunshine Clemons, the president of Black Lives Matter Springfield. "I have cried I don't know how many times over her loss because as a community it affects us all."

Massey's mother was present at this morning's protest. Another protest took place at 6 p.m.