Sonya Massey’s Killer Found Guilty Of 2nd-Degree Murder. Now, We Wait For Sentencing

Last week, the trial began for former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, who shot and killed 36-year-old Sonya Massey on July 6, 2024, at her home in Springfield, Illinois. On Wednesday, a jury found Grayson guilty of second-degree murder. While the ex-officer hasn’t been sentenced yet, his conviction should provide some semblance of relief to Massey’s family and people across the country who viewed her killing as a cut-and-dry case of murder, and feared that, once again, our so-called justice system might set a cop free based on his claim that he feared for his life, no matter how unreasonable that fear might have been.

As we previously reported, Grayson was charged with first-degree murder last year. As ABC News noted, he was also charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct, and he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Following the seven-day trial, the jury was given the option of considering second-degree murder, a charge Sangamon County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers objected to.

“When you threaten to shoot someone in the face, and you do, that’s first-degree murder,” Rodgers said during closing arguments on Tuesday.

For those who need a refresher on Massey’s story,  Grayson and another officer arrived at Massey’s home after she called 911 about a possible home invasion. Massey, who had a history of mental illness, said to the officers as soon as she opened the door for them, “Don’t hurt me,” to which an officer replied, “Why would we hurt you? You called us.”

That response from the deputy took less than an hour to age horribly.

Massey was in the living room on the couch as she was having a calm conversation with the officers when they spotted a pot sitting on the stove and instructed Massey to go into the kitchen and remove it, which she was seen doing in police body-cam footage when she was shot.

Here’s what the footage showed via The Hill:

Massey moved the pot near a sink before stating, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

“You better [expletive] not or I swear to God I’ll [expletive] shoot you in your [expletive] face,” Grayson responded before he pulled out his 9mm pistol and demanded Massey drop the pot.

“OK, I’m sorry,” Massey responded. But as she ducked and raised her hands, Grayson pointed his weapon at her.

Though Grayson was still in the living room, with a counter between himself and Massey, he shot her three times. One hit her in the head, a fatal blow.

Then Grayson tried to discourage his partner from providing first aid to Massey.

“You can go get it, but that’s a headshot,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”

It can’t be emphasized enough that Massey’s interaction with the deputies that night didn’t start in the kitchen. She was in the living room on the couch, having a mundane discussion with the officers, when they noticed a boiling pot of water that wasn’t a danger to anyone, as no one was even standing near it until the cops instructed Massey to remove it. Then she was shot to death for doing so.

“She had boiling water and came at me with boiling water. She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at me with boiling water,” Grayson told responding officers on the night of the shooting, but nothing in the video footage indicated that Massey “came at” anyone with the intention of tossing boiling water at a cop for no discernible reason whatsoever.

Even Massey’s word, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” appeared to be said in jest, and, at any rate, according to ABC, she said it just after she had poured the water into the sink. Of course, to let Grayson’s attorney tell it, that one sentence was enough to justify Grayson’s deadly response.

From ABC:

Daniel Fultz, Grayson’s defense lawyer, said during closing arguments that what happened to Massey was a tragedy but not a crime, according to WICS.

“As hard as that is to hear and accept, the outcome of this particular case was driven by Sonya Massey’s actions,” Fultz said, according to WICS.

The defense attorney stated that when Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Grayson believed it was a threat, and the jury didn’t have to agree with the former deputy, but that’s what he believed, according to WICS.

Fultz said that he didn’t care if the jury didn’t like Grayson as a person because that wasn’t what they were there to decide.

“The thing you cannot do is let your emotions dictate the outcome of this case,” the defense lawyer told the jury, according to WICS.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser was not about to let Fultz get away with telling jurors not to let their emotions influence their verdict — not while his client is out here claiming emotional distress led him to fatally shoot a woman who had called him for help and wasn’t a threat to him.

“Huh, that’s what happened,” Milhiser said. “The defendant let his emotions dictate the outcome of what happened in Sonya Massey’s kitchen.”

It’s worth noting that since Massey’s murder, Sangamon County, in February, reached a $10 million settlement agreement with Massey’s family, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit on her behalf. In August, the Sonya Massey Act, legislation that received bipartisan support from state congressional leaders, was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, requiring stricter police background checks in the state of Illinois.

These things simply don’t happen unless allegations of police brutality and extrajudicial execution are so thoroughly substantiated that even the local government won’t bother trying to justify them.

Sonya Massey should still be alive — period.

Grayson’s sentencing is set for Jan. 29, 2026. He’s facing a sentence of anywhere from four to 20 years in prison.

Let’s hope he gets the latter; otherwise, justice is not done.

SEE ALSO:

Sonya Massey Act Requires Stricter Police Background Checks

Trial Begins For Ex-Cop Who Killed Sonya Massey—What To Know

Op-Ed: We Have To Keep Sonya Massey’s Name Alive