Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson claims he shot Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, because he didn’t trust his stun gun to work through her clothing.

“I didn’t want to take the chance of the taser malfunctioning,” Grayson testified in court on Monday (October 27), per NBC News. “The taser doesn’t work on everybody.”

During Monday’s court appearance, Grayson recounted the moments leading up to the July 24 shooting of Massey as he and fellow deputy Dawson Farley responded to her Springfield home after she called police about a possible prowler.

Massey was holding a pot of boiling water in her kitchen just before Grayson shot and killed her. Grayson said he moved toward Massey after she picked up the pot because he wanted to make sure she didn’t have another weapon. The

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