Who is Sean Grayson? Ex-cop had lengthy disciplinary record before Sonya Massey killing

Grayson faces up to 20 years in prison or probation after being convicted on Wednesday.

A jury convicted former Illinois deputy Sean Grayson of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey on Wednesday (Oct. 29). But long before Grayson shot Massey in her home, the ex-police officer had a lengthy disciplinary record.

Despite the red flags on Grayson’s record, it did not stop him from being hired by six different Illinois agencies over a four-year period. 

In 2022, Grayson earned a reprimand after he struck a deer with his patrol vehicle. Grayson failed to slow down despite his boss calling off a high-speed chase and chalked up the crash to “a dumb mistake.” At the time of the crash, Grayson was driving around 110 mph. 

“Official misconduct will land you in jail… I’m calling you on your integrity,”  Nate Miller,  Logan County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy, told Grayson following the incident. “It will get you sued. And it will get you out of your business of law enforcement very quickly in today’s world.”

Grayson would resign from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in April 2023. A month later, he would join the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, 13 months before he shot and killed Massey.

The sheriff who hired Grayson subsequently retired early after the Massey shooting.

Before his stint in law enforcement, Grayson was kicked out of the Army due to one of two drunken driving convictions. The first was in August 2015 and the second was in July 2016. He received a general discharge under honorable conditions due to the DUI.

During the trial, Grayson testified in his own defense, telling jurors that he thought Massey would throw a pot of scalding hot water at him. He said Massey’s words of “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” could have been considered a threat, and he raised his weapon toward her as an act of force.

“She done. You can go get it, but that’s a head shot,” Grayson told his then-fellow officer, Dawson Farley, after the shooting. “There’s nothing you can do, man.”

Farley’s body cam footage became key evidence in the trial. Farley testified that he didn’t view Massey as a threat and acknowledged in his original police report that he feared for his safety due to the hot water. Ultimately, he was not charged because he did not fire his weapon.

When he went to get his medical kit to try to help Massey, Farley had already grabbed dish towels to apply pressure to her wounds. After Farley told him his help wasn’t necessary, Grayson said, “I’m not even gonna waste my med stuff then,” and threw the kit on the floor.

He faces up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of shooting Massey three times in the face. A jury declined to convict him of first-degree murder charges, an act that, if convicted, carries a sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

Grayson is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29, 2026. Massey’s family settled with the state for $10 million and Illinois enacted a law to require fuller transparency on the background of candidates who apply for law enforcement positions.