Sonya Massey's family has accused Illinois police of an attempted cover-up, saying that cops initially told them she had either killed herself or was killed by a neighbor.

Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot by a white sheriff's deputy on July 6 after calling 911 for help because she feared an intruder was in her home in Springfield.

However, Massey's former partner, Jimmie Crawford Jr., said during a press conference Tuesday that police gave him misleading information after he arrived at the hospital where the victim had been taken and later declared dead.

Crawford said cops told him that Massey had died by suicide.

Recently released police audio from the night of the incident revealed someone on the scene said Massey's gunshot wound was "self-inflicted."

"How do you get that confused? A murder and a suicide," said Crawford, who was joined at the press conference by his and Massey's daughter.

"So when the sergeant showed up in that room, and the deputy told him, 'I shot her,' how did it get to the hospital and to me that it was a suicide?" he questioned.

Crawford also said that police initially "wanted [him] to believe that the neighbor had [done] this."

"So this is a cover-up from the beginning," he claimed. "Everybody involved in that cover-up should be fired or reprimanded or both."

In police audio obtained by The Guardian, a person who was present during the shooting of Massey -- believed to be one of the deputies -- could be heard saying that the woman killed herself.

A dispatcher then asked: "Just confirmed: self-inflicted?"

"Self-inflicted," someone responded.

Body camera footage released by Illinois State Police also showed the events leading up to the shooting.

In the video, obtained by CBS News and shared by Massey family attorney Ben Crump, deputy Sean Grayson, 30, and a unidentified colleague were speaking to Massey when she went to the stove to turn off a pot of boiling water and picked up the pot.

The other deputy ordered Massey to step away from the pot, and the woman then began to repeat, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus."

Police car representation
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Grayson then responded that she "better not" and threatened to shoot Massey in the face, drawing his gun and pointing it at her, the footage showed.

Just a few seconds after ordering Massey to drop the pot, Grayson fired shots at her.

The deputies immediately called for emergency medical services.

"Dude, I'm not taking f**king boiling water to the f**king head. And look, it came right to our feet, too," Grayson could be heard saying.

Grayson has since been charged with murder in Massey's death.

He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and one count each of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.

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Crime