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

At the time of the fatal shooting, the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office was led by then-Sheriff Jack Campbell, who retired in August and was replaced by Crouch.

Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson holds his weapon while speaking to Sonya Massey in her home on July 6. Grayson was charged with first-degree murder after responding to a call from Massey about a suspected intruder at her home.

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 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.