Appeal to overturn conviction of late deputy in fatal shooting of Sonya Massey dismissed
An appeal on behalf of the former Illinois sheriff's deputy convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911 to report a possible intruder, has been dismissed following his death.
Sean Grayson, 32, a former sheriff's deputy in Sangamon County, Illinois, died in prison in August, his defense attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed to ABC News at the time.
Following a motion from the state, an appellate court granted the motion, dismissing Grayson’s lawyers' appeal filed last month asking the court to vacate his second-degree murder conviction.
Grayson was convicted of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Massey in her Springfield, Illinois, home in 2024.
In July, the three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted unanimously to deny a request from Grayson for early medical release. In his request, Grayson told the panel that he was suffering from stage 4 colon cancer.
The Sangamon County State's Attorney's office had opposed Grayson's release, saying he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer before the Massey shooting and his temper could pose a risk to the public.
Attorneys for Massey's family released a statement, saying, Grayson's death "does not bring Sonya back."
"We wish his family prayers of peace, as we do for all who grieve a loved one. Sonya's family knows that pain all too well and will grieve her loss the rest of their days," the family's attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a joint statement.
Grayson was dispatched to Massey's home on July 6, 2024, after she called 911 to report a possible intruder, according to police and prosecutors.
According to body camera footage from Grayson's partner on the night of the shooting, Grayson, who was inside Massey's home, asked her to turn off a pot of boiling water on the stove. Once she was near the stove, he pointed to the pot and ordered, "Walk away from your hot steaming water."
Massey then appeared to pour the water into the sink and repeated the deputy's phrase before saying, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," according to the video.
Grayson threatened to shoot her, and Massey apologized before ducking down behind a counter and covering her face with what appeared to be a red oven mitt, the video shows. As she briefly rose, Grayson shot her three times in the face, the footage shows.
Attorneys for the Massey family claimed she was experiencing a mental health crisis and posed no threat at the time she was fatally shot.
During Grayson's trial last October, his former partner, Deputy Dawson Farley, testified that Massey did not appear to be a threat.
During the trial, Sangamon County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers told jurors that Massey's final words before being shot with her hands up were, "I'm sorry."
Grayson testified in his own defense, saying that after he asked Massey to turn off the stove with the pot of boiling water, he thought she was threatening him and was going to throw the water at him.
In his handwritten request for early release to the Illinois Prison Review Board, Grayson maintained that Massey attacked him and that he shot her in self-defense.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the appeal Grayson's attorneys filed being dismissed.
