The white sheriff’s deputy who killed Sonya Massey, an unarmed black mother, in her kitchen after she reported a suspected prowler, needed “classes in decision-making under high stress.”
Sean Grayson, 30, was cited by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois after failing to slow down when his boss called off a vehicle chase. According to CNN.
He was driving about 110 mph and hit a deer, just years before he shot the 36-year-old mother in her kitchen over a pot of boiling water on July 6, according to sheriff’s office records.
“Officer Grayson pursued the truck through Lincoln at a high rate of speed, reaching 63/30 MPH zones, and in my opinion failed to display due caution when driving through stop intersections,” the deputy chief wrote at the time.
Sean Grayson, 30, was placed in pretrial detention by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois, which recommended he take “high-stress decision-making classes.”
The report noted that Grayson’s supervisor “terminated the pursuit” and Grayson turned off his emergency lights.
He then “continued at a high rate of speed (110/55 mph zone) before striking the deer.”
“Representative Grayson acknowledged that he lacks experience,” the report states.
He would go on to list a number of recommendations, including “additional training on traffic stops, report writing training, high-stress decision-making classes, and the need to read, understand and discuss the policy issued by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.”
It is unclear whether Grayson ever followed those recommendations.
He resigned from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in April 2023 and joined the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office the following month, where he shot Massey in the face.
The incident occurred just a few years before Grayson shot and killed 36-year-old Sonya Massey.
Grayson shot Massey three times earlier this month after she called police to report a prowler. She had a pot of boiling water on the stove when she arrived, Grayson asked her to turn it off and threatened to shoot her.
Massey, 36, who has mental health issues, called police to her home in Springfield, Illinois, in the early morning of July 6 to report a prowler in the area. Two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies responded to the call.
After a 30-minute search of the area failed to turn up any suspects, the two entered Massey’s home and struck up a conversation.
They then found a pot of boiling water on the stove, which Grayson asked her to turn off and threatened to shoot her.
Body camera footage shows the young woman crouching down and apologizing as the officer fires three shots.
A The autopsy has since determined that Massey was shot in the face, below the left eye, causing a skull fracture and puncturing the carotid artery.
That caused his brain to bleed before the bullet exited the back of his upper neck.
Massey also suffered minor blunt force injuries to his right leg, the coroner said.
Grayson has since been retired from the force and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death.
The former officer, who lost his job as a result of the shooting, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is currently being held in county jail while awaiting trial.
Sonya Massey, 36, was a loving mother of two who had suffered from mental health problems.
What led to Sonya Massey’s murder?
Sean Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy were called to Sonya Massey’s home about a suspected prowler at 12:50 a.m. on July 6.
The two officers searched the outside of the house for 30 minutes and discovered only a car with its windows smashed.
During his interactions with officers, Massey made several mentions of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
Massey had placed a pot of possibly hot water on the counter following Grayson’s instructions.
The victim made a comment about ‘scolding’ Grayson in the name of Jesus Christ.
Grayson was in the living room when he pulled out his firearm and threatened to shoot Massey in the face, causing her to put her hands up and say, “I’m sorry.”
Massey hides behind a counter that separates the two.
Grayson approached, yelled at Massey to put the pot down and opened fire, hitting her three times, once in the head.
Grayson did not render aid and discouraged the other officer from rendering aid.
The second officer, whose name was not released, stayed with Massey until medics arrived. She was pronounced dead at St. John’s Hospital.
But this isn’t the first time Grayson has committed misconduct on the job. His discharge from the Army was listed under “misconduct (serious),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
The Army declined to release further information about Grayson’s discharge, citing the Privacy Act and Defense Department policy that prevents disclosure of information about the conduct of low-level employees.
Grayson worked as a wheeled vehicle mechanic for the Army from May 2014 to February 2016 and left with the rank of private first class, a spokesperson told ABC News.
During his time in the military, he was charged with one DUI offense in Illinois in August 2015 and another shortly after his discharge in July 2016 in the same county, ABC News reported.
He paid thousands of dollars in fines for the illegal act and his car was impounded after the 2015 incident, records show.
Grayson has also served in several police forces, working for six agencies in four years.
His first police job was with the Pawnee Police Department, where he held a part-time position from August 2020 to July 2021, according to Illinois Law Enforcement Standards and Training Board (ILETSB).
He also worked at the Kincaid Police Department from February 2021 to May 2021 and the Virden Police Department from May 2021 to December 2021. Both were part-time positions.
Grayson held full-time positions with the Auburn Police Department from July 2021 to May 2022 and with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office from May 2022 to April 2023.
It began in Sangamon County in May 2023, according to ILETSB.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents Massey’s family, has now questioned why Grayson “was at the sheriff’s department in the first place.”
in a Statement announcing Grayson’s dismissalLogan County Sheriff Jack Campbell said it was “clear that the deputy did not act as he was trained or according to our standards.”
In a subsequent statement on July 22, the sheriff wrote: “Grayson had other options available to him that he should have pursued. His actions were inexcusable and do not reflect the values or training of our office. He will now face judgment by the criminal justice system and will never work in law enforcement again.”
“Ms. Massey lost her life unnecessarily and her family deserves answers. I am confident that the legal process will provide them.”