Harper Issues Statement on Murder of Sonya Massey

CHICAGO — State Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, released the following statement regarding the murder of Sonya Massey of Springfield:

“Once again, a woman and a mother and a human being who should be alive is not—because a police deputy who swore an oath to protect the community instead chose the path of wanton violence and callous indifference to human life.

“The actions of this, now former, deputy were so extreme and deviant that even his fellow responders were left shocked and appalled. What’s perhaps even more sickening is the total lack of remorse evident from the body camera footage. How someone so plainly deranged was able to make it into a position of trust and authority is a question that will need to be answered in the days and weeks to come.

“Credit where it’s due, it is good that Sonya Massey’s killer has been fired, and has been appropriately charged with first degree murder. That he’s been—very rightly—denied pretrial release is also an indication that recent criminal justice reforms are working. However, even so, it cannot be said frequently or insistently enough that Sonya Massey should still be alive.

“The deputy who killed her openly displayed extremely concerning lack of normal human empathy and compassion, which by itself should have given any good faith hiring authority pause. But after Sonya Massey’s death, it emerged that her killer had six jobs in four police departments and two sheriffs’ offices in just the four years since 2020, all while having been convicted twice of DUI.

“The fact that he was continually hired by one law enforcement organization after another without his erratic history or thinly-veiled emotional issues being flagged is extremely concerning and is another thing that investigators will need to get to the bottom of.

“Progress has been made in recent years, but the ongoing drumbeat of incidents like this show us how much remains to be done. That’s why I won’t stop until every life is treated with the dignity and respect it deserves.”