Sonya Massey called the police to report a suspected prowler outside her home. Sonya Massey was shot and killed by former deputy Sean Grayson on July 6, 2024. Sean Grayson, 30, ex-deputy, was indicted on Wednesday, on July 17, 2024 on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery and official misconduct. The charges come nearly two weeks after Grayson shot and killed 36-year-old Sonya Massey in her Springfield home after she had called 911 about an intruder.
The footage shows two officers entering Massey’s home to inform her they found nothing suspicious. When asked “Are you doing alright, mentally”, she replies, “Yes, I took my medicine.” Massey’s family confirmed that she had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Court documents filed by prosecutors said Massey appeared to be “calm, possibly unwell, and non-aggressive”. While one deputy continued searching outside her home, Deputy Sean P. Grayson entered her house, followed shortly by the other officer. “We don’t need a fire while we’re here,” one deputy says. They didn’t show any concern with her going over to get the pot. They even prompted her to stand and move to turn off the heat. However, the situation quickly escalated when Massey approached her stove to tend to a pot of boiling water. When she grabs the pot of boiling water, they start moving away from her. She asks them where they were going. “Away from your hot steaming water,” one officer says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she answers. “Huh?” the deputy says. “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she repeats. “You better f** not or I swear to God I’ll f****** shoot you in the f****** face,” Grayson tells her. County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson pulled out the gun and she said ‘’I am sorry.’’ Both officers are seen yelling at her: “Drop the f****** pot”, and Grayson takes at least two steps towards her as she tries to move. Grayson fired his weapon, hitting Massey three times, with a fatal shot to her head. He is then heard reporting the shooting over the radio. His partner then says they should get the medical kit and try to help her. “She’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a headshot,” Grayson responds. His partner grabs a towel and leans down towards Massey. “She’s still gasping a little bit,” he notes.
He jumped from one LE agency to another. He was removed from the Army, had DUIs and needed ‘‘high stress decision’’ classes, records show.
Massey “was shot beneath her eye, and the bullet (exited) at the back of her neck, under her ear,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump told CNN. “What it tells us is that he shot her in a downward trajectory.”
When asked for comment Friday, Grayson’s attorney Daniel Fultz told CNN: “I don’t wish to comment.”
The Illinois State Police on Monday released bodycam video of a police officer shooting a Black woman inside her home, sparking nationwide outrage in the United States. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell spoke on Monday during a listening session held by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“I can’t imagine the pain that her family and friends feel right now, I’m sorry, she called for help and we failed her. That’s all she did, that’s all she did was call for help. I’m going to say something right now that I’ve never said in my career before, that we failed, we did not do our jobs,” Campbell said.
Protesters have been in the streets since last Friday, “looking for answers and demanding justice,” according to reporting by the Springfield State Journal-Register, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Grayson worked at 6 police departments in 4 years. That’s Grayson responding to his former boss, deputy Miller, at Logan County Illinois Sheriff’s office in 2022. Chief deputy Nathan Miller ”Seven months on – how are you still employed by us?, Grayson ”I don’t know,” questioning him about his mishandling of a traffic case. ”Do you understand that’s a violation of personal policy?” Grayson ”Yes, I do.” Grayson was accused of violating department policy and submitting inaccurate reports. ”A lot of officers have been charged and end up in jail because that’s what they perceived. Official misconduct will land you in jail. Others will say that you have no integrity and you’re lying. I’m calling you on your integrity, how does that make you feel? I’m learning from it.” Grayson ”I don’t get angry.” Logan County terminated Grayson. ”If we can’t trust what you say and what you see, we can’t have you in our uniform.”
One supervisor is heard reprimanding Grayson for misconduct. “The sheriff and I will not tolerate lying or deception. I have zero tolerance for stretching the law. Because when you have officers that stretch the law, they will get caught, they will get prosecuted, and they will handcuff the rest of law enforcement,” the supervisor told Grayson.
Records also show a woman filed a complaint, claiming Grayson tried to watch as she was strip-searched.
However, according to the paperwork, Grayson left the Logan County Sheriff’s Office last year in “good standing.”
He was hired days later by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office In Springfield, where he was working at the time of Massey’s shooting.
Sangamon County released 911 call recordings and reports showing that local law enforcement was aware of Ms. Massey’s mental health issues and that she had been in contact with treatment providers before her death. It is not clear if the two deputies who entered her home on the day of the shooting were told that she was having mental health issues.
The former sheriff’s deputy facing a murder charge for gunning down Sonya Massey won’t be defended by the local police union.
The day before Sonya Massey was fatally shot by a deputy, her mother Donna Massey called 911 and tried to explain her daughter was having ”a mental breakdown”. She explained her daughter’ behavior to the dispatcher, describing her as “sporadic.” Ms. Massey said that her daughter was not a danger to herself or to her mother, but that when she became upset, she thought everybody was after her. Donna Massey said in the call that she was advised to call the police because they were concerned that her daughter could be dangerous if she operated a motor vehicle.
The dispatcher told Donna Massey that they would send someone over and she thanked them and asked them to not send “combative policemen that are prejudiced.”
“They just do their job, OK?” the dispatcher replied.
“They’re scary. I’m scared of the police,” Donna Massey said, adding that they can sometimes makes situations worse.
A Springfield police officer filed a report about an hour later saying that he had spoken with Sonya Massey and that she did not want to speak with medical professionals or seek treatment. He said that she had been “cleared” by emergency medical workers.
That same day, another 911 call was made just before 1 p.m. by a woman who sounded distressed and was not identified in the audio recording, but was named in the call report as Sonya Massey.
The report said that a sheriff deputy spoke to Ms. Massey later that afternoon at a hospital, where she was seeking treatment for her mental state, and that she told him she had recently been released from a mental hospital. The Springfield Police Department said that Ms. Massey had also talked with members of a mobile crisis team for people experiencing mental health issues at least three times in the two weeks before the shooting, according to the report.
Sonya Massey’ murder has spurred national outrage across the nation and calls for better police training. They don’t understand mental health issues, among all other things regarding this case.
On Wednesday, officials also released personnel records for Mr. Grayson, which showed that Sheriff Jack Campbell of Sangamon County knew that the officer had two drunken-driving convictions from 2015 and 2016 before he was hired. One of the convictions led to Mr. Grayson being prematurely discharged from the Army in February 2016. Sheriff Campbell said in a statement issued on Wednesday that convictions for driving under the influence do not disqualify candidates for deputy positions and that Mr. Grayson had references from people the sheriff knew well and trusted.
Sheriff Jack Campbell is under fire from the slain woman’s family who wants him to resign.
He spoke on Wednesday night at a community meeting and said that he would not resign, but asked for forgiveness. “We failed Sonya,” Sheriff Campbell said. “We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness. I ask Ms. Massey and her family for forgiveness.”
Sheriff Jack Campbell did resign, after initially refusing to resign.
