SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A riveted nation watched video released this week of a sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who called 911 for assistance, in her Illinois home.
Sean Grayson, 14 months into his career as a deputy sheriff for Sangamon County in the center of the state, is charged with murder in Massey’s death, the latest example of law enforcement officers shooting Black people in their homes across the country.
Here’s what we know about the shooting and the former deputy now facing years in prison if convicted.
What happened that day?
At 12:50 a.m. on July 6, Massey called 911 with her fears about a prowler around her home in an unincorporated neighborhood of Springfield, 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.
Video from body cameras worn by Grayson and another deputy show a search around Massey’s house and in surrounding yards. They found a black SUV with broken windows in an adjacent driveway before Massey came to the front door. When Massey opened the door, she said, “Don’t hurt me,” seemed confused and repeated, “Please God” and said, “I don’t know what to do.”
It isn’t clear why Massey and Grayson went inside the house, followed by the other deputy.
Grayson asked for her name to include on a report as the deputies prepared to leave. Massey was searching her purse for ID when Grayson pointed out a pot over a flame on the stove.
Massey quickly went to the stove, moved the pan toward a sink and asked Grayson, “Where are you going?” He had stepped back and remained in the living room of the small home, separated from her by a cluttered counter.
Grayson and Massey chuckled as he replied, “Away from your hot, steaming water.” Massey then unexpectedly said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” prompting Grayson to pull his 9 mm pistol and tell her, “You better (expletive) not or I swear to God I’ll (expletive) shoot you in your (expletive) face.”
He repeatedly yelled at Massey to put down the pot. She apologized and ducked before Grayson fired three times, striking Massey once in the head.
What charges were filed?
A grand jury indicted Grayson on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct.
He is being held in the Menard County Jail without bond. He pleaded not guilty and his defense attorney has declined to comment on the case.
Who was Sonya Massey?
The mother of two — 17-year-old Malachi Hill Massey and 15-year-old Jeannette “Summer” Massey — was from a large family with many cousins who thought of her as a sister.
“She was loving, caring. Her cousins — she loved her cousins,” Malachi said. “She was just a ball of energy. We’d go anywhere; if she wanted to talk to someone, she’d go talk to them. She was just a loving person. She always helped people, too.”
Massey, who was unemployed, had struggled with mental illness and undergone treatment. That might explain her puzzling statement to Grayson, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” according to the family’s lawyer, Ben Crump. But it also speaks to her strong religious faith, he said.
What have prosecutors said?
In last week’s court hearing, First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said the distance between Grayson and Massey negated any perceived threat and he had “a lot of options” aside from firing his weapon if he believed he was in danger.
“At no point did this defendant show anything but callousness toward human life,” said Rodgers, adding that Grayson “clearly dismissed his training as a law enforcement officer.”
Massey’s home in the Cabbage Patch neighborhood, named for a huge cabbage farm there more than a century ago, has an open floor plan with the living room divided from the kitchen by a counter. The video shows Grayson in the living room with Massey on the other side of the counter, several feet away.
On the video, Grayson is heard justifying his actions by saying, “What else do we do? I’m not taking hot (expletive) boiling water to the (expletive) face.” He’s also heard telling arriving officers that Massey “came at me” and called her “crazy.”
What is Sean Grayson’s background?
Grayson, 30, graduated from North Mac High School in Virden, 27 miles (43 kilometers) south of Springfield, in 2013, according to defense attorney Daniel Fultz at last week’s hearing. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2014 until a general discharge in 2016.
According to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, Grayson joined the police ranks in August 2020 with the first of six jobs in four years, three part time and three full time. The Associated Press has requested his employment records from the central Illinois agencies in public records requests.
In a July 2020 employment application to the Pawnee Police Department, he said he was a mechanic and performed vehicle maintenance and recovery in the Army.
“I am a very hard worker and fast learner,” Grayson wrote in the employment application. “I am looking for a department to give me a chance to show what I can do. I am a team player and great communicator.”
He also wrote that he also worked as a security guard at a hospital, as a landscaper and spent three years working at a fitness center.
He joined the sheriff’s department in Sangamon County, population 196,300, in May 2023. He was fired last Wednesday, the day he was indicted.
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Associated Press writer Corey Williams contributed from Detroit.