The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the killing of Sonya Massey, a Black woman shot by a white police officer in July after calling to report a prowler outside her home. In a letter to Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office,

The Justice Department notified Sangamon County, Ill., that it had opened a civil rights investigation after reports about the shooting raised “serious concerns.”

The US Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation of Illinois’ Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office four months after a deputy fatally shot Sonya Massey while responding to her call about a possible prowler outside the 36-year-old Black woman’s home.

The U.S. Justice department has ordered that the records of Sonya Massey's killing be turned over by an Illinois sheriff's office.

The Justice Department also reviewed the sheriff’s department’s employment practices, such as a lack of diversity on the force. These allegations collectively raise concerns of race and disability discrimination prohibited by Title VI,

The Justice Department is opening a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of an Illinois woman inside her own home by a sheriff's deputy. Sonya Massey, 36, was killed by former Sangamon County deputy Sean Grayson in July amid an exchange over a pot of boiling water.