James Wilburn probably never thought he’d ever lay eyes on Ben Crump, much less have a conversation with him, but then tragedy struck.
Wilburn is a happy, glass half full type of guy. He lived and worked in the San Diego area for 35 years. But he retired to Pine Bluff several years ago and now loves it, “warts and all,” as he would say.
But a couple of weeks ago, his world crashed down around him. His 36-year-old daughter, Sonya Massey, who lives in the Springfield, Ill., area had called the police to report a prowler. The sad part is that, when a Black person is mentioned in a news story alongside the police these days, the imagination runs to the No, no, not again! place because it seems to happen so often.
A summary of what happened sheds little real light on why this happened, because the end result was so incongruous to the narrative. Deputies with the Sangamon County sheriff’s office went to her house, found a car that appeared to have been broken into, and entered her home after knocking on the door. There was some back and forth, a pot of water was on the stove, which Massey had in her hand a couple of times, then threats from the deputy and three gunshots, one of which struck the young woman in the face. It makes little sense, but indeed, Wilburn’s daughter is dead, and the white deputy believed to have caused the death has been charged with murder.
Because the case is sadly similar to other cases that Crump has worked on — think George Floyd Jr. and Breonna Taylor — he has been hired to represent Massey’s family.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
It’s hard not to think of such cases in the micro and macro. On one level, no amount of thoughts and prayers for Wilburn and the rest of Massey’s family will bring her back or even do much to alleviate their anguish in the short term. Grief takes its own path, and we can only imagine the horror of having to deal with the pain associated with such an inane set of circumstances that led to a loved one’s death.
Big picture, we wonder why these events continue to happen. The state of Illinois has said there was not an adequate reason to use deadly force in this situation, seeing as how she wasn’t armed and the deputy was. So why the drawn firearm? Why the fired firearm? If there was a threat of something escalating, why not reach for a taser? Isn’t that what those are for? Are officers everywhere not required to walk through the litany of such cases that have happened across the country to learn how to avoid such a tragic end? Does the law enforcement community wake up in a new world every day?
In far too many cases, the “this” of the circumstances does not equal the “that” of the outcome. Can someone please explain why that is? And then stop it?