Former Illinois Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Sonya Massey. Grayson fatally shot Massey in her home in 2024 after she called 911 to report a suspected intruder in her Springfield home.
Grayson was convicted in October of second-degree murder. During his sentencing on Thursday, Grayson, who is white, said he made “terrible decisions” the night he killed Massey, a Black mother of two, and apologized in court for her death. “I was very unprofessional that night,” Grayson said via NBC News. “She didn't deserve to be yelled at and cussed at and called names. Nobody deserves that.”
Grayson was given the maximum penalty, with Judge Ryan Cadigan of the 7th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois saying, “that bit of unreasonable rage needs to be deterred.” Judge Cadigan also denied the defense's motion for a new trial, which they filed in November. After serving 20 years, Grayson will be under supervised probation for two years.
While Grayson was initially charged with three counts of first-degree murder, a jury convicted him of the lesser second-degree murder charge.
Massey's two children made statements in court for the first time on Thursday where they expressed how their lives had been drastically altered since the death of their mother.
“It doesn't feel like he truly understands or cares about the damage he has caused,” Massey's daughter Summer said. She added: “I'm thankful for all the love and support that everybody has come out and shown, and I'm grateful that we got the maximum sentence that we could. Twenty years is not enough, but they did what… they could do.”
“My soul is ripped, it's like a part of me is really dead,” Malachi Hill Massey, Sonya's son, said.
Massey's mother, Donna, was also present at the hearing. “Today, I'm afraid to call the police in fear that I might end up like Sonya,” she said, via The Associated Press.
Body camera footage from the day of the murder showed Grayson and another sheriff's deputy, who was not charged, searching Massey's yard before they met her at the door. According to the video, Grayson instructed Massey to step away from a pot of boiling water on the stove in her kitchen. Massey could be heard saying, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” to which Grayson responded: “You better fucking not, or I swear to God I'll fucking shoot you in the fucking face.” When Grayson revealed his gun, pointing it at Massey, the woman stated, “I'm sorry,” while apparently ducking and lifting the pot. Three shots were fired shortly after both deputies could be heard yelling: “Drop the fucking pot.”
Her death sparked protests over police brutality and calls for justice. It also brought on the passage of the Sonya Massey Bill in Illinois, which creates stricter hiring requirements for law enforcement, increasing accountability.
