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| Mugshot of Sean Grayson from 2024 |
Sean Grayson's murder trial began Wednesday with opening arguments and several witness testimonies. Here's a recap.
Grayson's partner says he 'wasn't threatened' by Sonya Massey
Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy Dawson Farley in his testimony said he was confused, "not threatened," when Massey said, "I rebuke in the name of Jesus." He said he didn't "see or hear anything" that would have made Grayson draw his service weapon and said he was "caught off guard" by Grayson firing his firearm, adding that it didn't follow training.
Retired chief deputy says Grayson engaged in 'policy violations'
Retired Sangamon County Sheriff Chief Deputy Anthony Mayfield said an investigation was initiated after reviewing all internal complaints about Grayson. The investigation indicated that "policy violations" had occurred, and Grayson was terminated as a sheriff's deputy just before his indictment, according to Mayfield.
The court listens to Massey's 911 call, watches bodycam footage
Cathryn Barton, a Sangamon County dispatcher, gave a short testimony about Massey's 911 calls on July 6, 2024 – one of which was played for the court.
Massey said on the call that it sounded like someone "was banging" on the side of her house. Barton, on the 911 call, asked if Massey had seen the person.
Jurors also saw the footage from Grayson's partner's body-worn camera, sparking emotional reactions from Massey's family. Sonya Massey's mother, Donna Massey, left the courtroom in tears, accompanied by Sontae Massey, her nephew.
Expert testimony about police procedure
The expert, Lewis Deckmurray, examined body camera video frame by frame from the night Grayson shot and killed Sonya Massey last year in her Springfield home. Deckmurray said Grayson made decisions that were quote, 'tactically unsound." Grayson maintains he acted in self defense after Massey grabbed a pot of boiling water.
The killing has prompted continued questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes and generated a change in Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the background of candidates for law enforcement jobs.
Grayson, 31, has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of murder, he faces 45 years to life in prison. Prosecutors dismissed single counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct originally alleged.
Background
Massey is one of several Black women who have been killed by police in their own homes in recent years, including Breonna Taylor and Atatiana Jefferson. In a news conference, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey’s family, connected her death to other cases of police violence against Black people across the US.
Since the Incident
In February of 2025 a $10 million settlement between county officials in Springfield, Illinois, and the family of Massey was revealed. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters the settlement, approved by the Sangamon County Board, is poignant, particularly because Massey would have turned 37 on the 12th of February and because a criminal trial and legislative changes await.
“It is bittersweet,” Crump said in an online news conference. “This is our first step in getting full justice for Sonya Massey. ... We want civil accountability, criminal culpability and we want legislative changes. We want the laws to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Ex-sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting after responding to a call from Massey, who suffered mental health challenges, about a suspected prowler. He shot her while she was moving a pot of hot water from her stove.
Grayson remains jailed despite a unanimous 4th District Appellate Court ruling in November that his pre-trial detention was improper. The panel of justices said prosecutors failed to show there were no conditions under which Grayson could be released without posing a threat to the community. Illinois eliminated cash bail in a law Slaughter sponsored which took effect in 2023, allowing judges to order detention only with sufficient cause.
The Illinois Supreme Court is considering an appeal of that ruling.
CASE INFORMATION
Case: 2024-CF-000909
Agency: CITY OF SPRINGFIELD
3 Counts of FIRST-DEGREE MURDER Statute 720 5/9-1(a)(1) Class M
1 Count of AGGRAVATED BATTERY W/ FIREARM Statute 720 5/12-3.05(e)(1) Class X
1 Count of OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT Statute 720 5/33-3(A)(1) Class 3
THE LAW
Because homicide is excusable on the ground of accident if it appears that the defendant was acting lawfully in self-defense, the highly deadly act of shooting a person in the head instead of the shoulder or elsewhere is the reason for the severity of charge. The defendant not threatening Massey with a taser or pepper spray and yelling his intent to shoot her in the head is why prosecutors went with first degree murder. In addition, deliberation and premeditation need only be for seconds before the act which is why these charges are sought even with the victim throwing boiling water at the defendant.
AGGRAVATED BATTERY W/ FIREARM
A person commits aggravated battery when, in committing a battery, he or she knowingly discharges a firearm and causes any injury to another person.
OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT
The police claimed her death was self-inflicted, according to the victim’s family and dispatch audio from the incident. Under the statute making official misconduct by a public officer or employee a criminal offense, not all actions of a police officer are done in their official capacity, even those performed while on duty. An employee of a law enforcement agency commits misconduct when the employee knowingly uses or communicates, directly or indirectly, information acquired in the course of employment, with the intent to obstruct, impede, or prevent the investigation, apprehension, or prosecution of any criminal offense or person.
SELF DEFENSE IN GENERAL
The homicide is excusable or justifiable where, while a person is lawfully acting in self-defense, the death of the assailant results from misadventure, or an innocent bystander is killed by a random shot, if under the circumstances, the killing of the person intended to be killed would have been excusable or justifiable as in self-defense.
The Defendant’s Defense
Any claim of immunity must be based on an intentional but justifiable use of force. Intentionally and deliberately aiming and firing negates recklessness, for purposes of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
ILLINOIS CASE LAW
A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits first-degree murder if, in performing the acts which cause the death:
he either intends to kill or do great bodily harm to that individual or another, or knows that such acts will cause death to that individual or another; or
he knows that such acts create a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to that individual or another; or
he or she, acting alone or with one or more participants, commits or attempts to commit a forcible felony other than second degree murder, and in the course of or in furtherance of such crime or flight therefrom, he or she or another participant causes the death of a person.
The Appellate Court held that unless the defendant had very little time to think or assess situation, and had to act immediately to protect himself or another from danger, the killing does not constitute manslaughter. People v. Adams, 9 Ill. App. 3d 61, 291 N.E.2d 54 (1972)
In Illinois, a person is guilty of first-degree murder where he or she kills an individual without lawful justification and either intends to kill or to do great bodily harm to that individual or another. People v. Alvarez-Garcia, 395 Ill. App. 3d 719, 344 Ill. Dec. 59, 936 N.E.2d 588 (1st Dist. 2009).
To prove murder, it is not necessary to show that defendant had specific intent to kill or do great bodily harm, or that he knew with certainty that his acts would achieve murderous results; it is sufficient to show that defendant voluntarily and willfully committed act, natural tendency of which was to destroy another's life, and defendant's intent may be implied from character of act committed. S.H.A. 720 ILCS 5/9–1(a)(2).
Proof of a specific intent to kill is rarely proven through direct evidence in a first degree murder prosecution. People v. Scott, 2020 IL App (1st) 180200, 169 N.E.3d 840 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 2020), appeal denied, 442 Ill. Dec. 394, 159 N.E.3d 942 (Ill. 2020).
About the Defendant
Sean Patrick Grayson, the 31-year-old deputy from Riverton, Illinois, responsible for killing Massey, worked for six different Illinois police departments between 2020 and 2024. While enlisted in the Army, Grayson had two misdemeanor DUI convictions in 2015 and 2016. He was born on November 30, 1993.
The first DUI led to his discharge from the military in February 2016 for serious misconduct. After his discharge, Grayson resided in Junction City, Kansas. He began working part-time with Pawnee police in August 2020, then moved to the Kincaid and Virden police departments, before taking up full-time work with Auburn police, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and – in May 2023 – Sangamon County.
Grayson falsely arrested Kyle Adkins in 2021. Grayson claimed there was a warrant and evidence against Adkins, which were later proven to be non-existent.
In 2022, Grayson, at the time a deputy for the Logan County Sheriff's Office, was involved in a high-speed police chase where he refused an order from his superiors to terminate the pursuit. Grayson continued his pursuit reaching speeds up to 110 mph. He also turned off his lights and siren but did not stop the pursuit until he hit a deer. This resulted in a meeting between Grayson and his superiors about his misconduct and the possibility of firing Grayson. However, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office absolved him and never reported the misconduct.
According to his lawyer, Grayson has stage 3 colon cancer, which was diagnosed in the fall of 2023. His lawyer also said Grayson was not a threat to the community because he was compliant and turned himself in within a half-hour after his arrest warrant was issued. The defendant was still remanded to the custody of the Sheriff.
Grayson was fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff Department.