Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – They said her name, and will continue to do so.
Community members gathered Sunday afternoon for a ceremony dedicating the pedestrian bridge on Clearlake near Martin Luther King, Junior Drive in the name of Sonya Massey. It’s been a year since she was shot and killed as Sangamon County Sheriffs Deputies were responding to a disturbance call at her home.
But, why a bridge? And, why THAT bridge? Ald. Shawn Gregory, Ward 2, says he’s been asked that a lot.
“We know this incident happened in an unincorporated area in the City of Springfield, so our powers were limited in what we could do in that particular area,” said Gregory. “We felt like this was the right thing to honor her in the community, and allowing a space for artistic expression.”
Ultimately, Gregory said, it was the community that chose the spot, not Springfield, given that artwork showed up at the bridge not long after the fatal shooting took place. Several artists have been chosen to paint murals at the site of the bridge.
“The Sonya Massey Memorial Bridge now rises above the city, not just as an architectural crossing, but as a spiritual one,” said Shontae Massey, Sonya’s cousin. “(It’s) a bridge between past pain and future promise. In naming this bridge after Sonya, we are not just honoring a life — but, invoking a movement.”
That movement, Shontae Massey says, includes work that is ongoing to reform police activity in Springfield and Sangamon County, but also social justice. He and others praised Sangamon County’s Massey Commission — an initiative that has remained criticized by some residents. The commission is hosting a “healing circle” on Monday starting at 3:30pm at the Thrive Center for Wellness.
A Levitt AMP concert this Thursday in the former “Y” block is also being dedicated to Sonya Massey’s memory.
Mayor Misty Buscher said Sunday Sonya Massey has been on her mind almost since the very beginning — including words she was heard using on police bodycam video prior to being shot.
“(Sonya Massey is) a person I think we all need to remember, and uttered the words ‘I rebuke you in in the name of Jesus,'” said Buscher. “Sonya knew her God. And she believed in her God. And I believe she’s with her God.”
Shawn Grayson, the Sangamon County Sheriffs Deputy who was fired after Massey’s death, remains held in the Macon County Jail in Decatur while the Illinois Supreme Court considers arguments made regarding his pre-trial release. He’s scheduled to go on trial in October in Peoria on murder charges, after a request for a change of venue was granted. The Sangamon County Board approved a $10 million settlement of a civil lawsuit.
