Sean Grayson, ex-deputy convicted of Sonya Massey’s murder, dies in prison – National
Sean Grayson, a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy who was convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey inside her home in 2024, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Grayson’s lawyer, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday to The New York Times and The Associated Press but declined to provide any further details.
Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had reported a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter showed Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.
Grayson was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison and he was six months into serving his sentence in an Illinois prison before he died.
The ex-deputy had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey’s killing and his lawyers said at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs.
In May, Grayson requested medical release under an Illinois law for prisoners with terminal illnesses or serious medical conditions, according to a copy of his application published by Capitol News Illinois.
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In a letter to the board opposing Grayson’s release, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said the former deputy’s medical condition was already considered at sentencing.
“To release Grayson under these circumstances would be a miscarriage of justice,” he wrote, “and an insult to Sonya Massey’s memory and family.”
By July, a three-member Illinois Review Board voted unanimously to deny his request for early medical release.
Massey called 911 early on July 6, 2024, to report someone prowling outside her home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded.
Sheriff’s body cam video showed Grayson telling Massey to remove a pot of hot water from the stove. She held the pot and told the deputies, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatened to shoot Massey and drew his gun before ordering her to drop the pot again.
Massey apologized and ducked behind a kitchen counter before Grayson fired his handgun three times.
Grayson was fired after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. Jurors convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder after Grayson argued that he feared Massey would throw the hot water at him.
In a statement announcing Grayson had been fired from the force, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office wrote that it was “clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said Grayson’s actions were “inexcusable” and promised that he “will never again work in law enforcement.”
“Sonya Massey lost her life due to an unjustifiable and reckless decision by former Deputy Sean Grayson. Grayson had other options available that he should have used,” Campbell said. “Ms. Massey needlessly lost her life, and her family deserves answers. I trust the legal process will provide them.”
After Massey’s death, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Sonya Massey Act, which is a law requiring stricter background checks for law enforcement hires that went into effect at the beginning of 2026.
Sangamon County officials agreed to pay a USD$10-million settlement to Massey’s family in early 2025.
“The settlement reached by civil attorneys for the senseless death of Sonya Massey brings some measure of accountability and closure to those who loved her, but nothing can remove the persistent pain, frustration and grief caused by her senseless death,” a statement from lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci and the family of Massey said.
“The use of deadly force during that encounter is as stunning as it is deeply, deeply sad. It is the hope of Sonya’s family that her death can bring change, and that the community will continue to say her name so no one ever needlessly loses their life again when all they are asking for is help,” the statement added.
—With files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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