SPRINGFIELD — Images of a slight Sonya Massey being fatally shot in the face by an imposing law enforcement officer inside her home in July 2024 shocked much of America.
The 36-year-old Black mother of two, who at the time was dealing with mental health challenges, had called police to her residence near Springfield because she said she was worried about a prowler. Mere minutes later, Sangamon County Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson, who is white, killed her as he yelled for her to drop a pot of what he feared was boiling water.
On Monday, Grayson’s first-degree murder trial begins 15 months after that fatal night. But for Massey’s father, the trial is only a reminder of how much he’s lost.
“I miss our long conversations. We would have conversations that were sometimes at least a couple of hours long,” James Wilburn said in an interview earlier this month with the Tribune. “And we never, ever ended a conversation without her saying, ‘I love you, Daddy.'”
“I think that anyone who looks at that tape and looks at it objectively will be horrified,” he said. “It’s the most horrifying tape that I’ve ever seen in my life. In my 67 years, I haven’t seen anything like it.”
The graphic police body camera footage showing the circumstances surrounding how Grayson killed Massey will likely be a key piece of evidence in the jury trial of the 31-year-old former officer, who also faces charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Prosecutors have pointed to findings by an independent expert in the use of lethal force showing Grayson’s actions were not justified.
“He likened the scenario to an officer putting himself unnecessarily in front of a moving car and then being afraid that the car is going to hit him and using lethal force,” Sangamon County First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said during a hearing last year.
The trial will take place in Peoria — some 75 miles from where Massey was killed — at the urging of Grayson’s lawyers, who argued their client couldn’t get a fair trial in Illinois’ capital city amid extensive news coverage of the killing.
But the impact of the shooting went far beyond the Springfield area. It sparked protests across the nation and even an acknowledgement from then-President Joe Biden, who offered his condolences and said Massey’s death at the hands of a responding officer “reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not.”
Massey’s killing also highlighted law enforcement’s sometimes-lackadaisical hiring practices. Grayson had previously worked for five other law enforcement agencies and got hired by the Sangamon County sheriff’s office despite some of his previous employers having criticized his performance as an officer.
Despite records showing Sangamon County officials were aware of at least part of Grayson’s background prior to hiring him, his revolving-door history prompted Gov. JB Pritzker to approve a measure requiring local and state law enforcement agencies in Illinois to be more transparent about former officers’ work histories when they seek employment with another police force. A local commission was also established in Massey’s name for community leaders to examine issues that include societal inequalities in minority neighborhoods within the Springfield area.
The shooting also prompted an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, which in January reached an agreement with Sangamon County authorities to review or institute policies related to nondiscriminatory policing and interactions with people who have behavioral health disabilities.
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“The death of Sonya Massey was a terrible tragedy for a woman experiencing a mental health crisis, her family, and the entire Sangamon County community,” then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said at the time. “This agreement reflects Sangamon County’s commitment to instituting reform and taking action that will help improve public safety and restore trust with the community in the road ahead.”
The killing hit state Sen. Doris Turner especially hard. She was friends with generations of Massey relatives and recalled how Sonya Massey, who called Turner “auntie,” came to her front porch just days before the shooting for a visit.
“Sonya’s murder was an absolute tragedy and one of epic proportions,” said Turner, a Democrat from Springfield who in the Senate sponsored the legislation regarding police employment transparency. “They will never bring Sonya back. They will never make her family whole again. But I believe these are things that will make our community better, and we have to take some relief in that.”
With the trial approaching, Grayson has been held in Sangamon County’s jail as his lawyers were unsuccessful in arguing he should be released pending trial. His legal team argued Grayson was not a violent threat to the public, that he would have no reason to contact Massey’s family and that the ex-cop had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer — suggesting the county jail system may struggle to provide adequate healthcare to Grayson for the illness.
After a Tribune reporter emailed Grayson’s lawyers seeking to interview them, Grayson or his relatives, attorney Daniel Fultz replied, “We are not interested. Thank you.”
‘I don’t want to hurt you’
Ultimately, the case could hinge on how a jury reacts to the body camera footage from Grayson and another deputy who responded to Massey’s home around 1 a.m. on July 6, 2024, in an unincorporated area just outside Springfield city limits. The following narrative was pieced together through video from the deputies’ body cameras:
When Grayson and the other deputy arrived at the home to talk to Massey, it took her a few minutes to answer the door. Grayson appeared to be impatient when she didn’t come to the door immediately.
“You coming to the door or not?” Grayson asked in a raised voice.
When Massey opened the door, she appeared confused and told Grayson, “Please don’t hurt me,” before Grayson replied, “I don’t want to hurt you. You called us.”
Massey said “please God” repeatedly and told the deputies she needed help. Asked why, Massey told the deputies she thought someone was outside her home. But Grayson said he and the other deputy checked around the house and saw no one.
They asked Massey about a car with a broken window parked in her driveway and whether it belonged to her. She said it did not, but apparently couldn’t specify who owned the vehicle when asked.
At some point, while still standing at the doorway, Grayson asked Massey if she was “doing all right mentally,” to which she replied, “yes,” before thanking the deputies.
According to prosecutor statements in court records, the deputies then entered Massey’s home to “gather further information, and ensure the residence was safe. At no time was Ms. Massey under arrest.”
Inside the home, Grayson asked Massey to see her identification, a request that appeared to annoy Massey as she sat on her couch. As she went through her purse and a bag, Massey said she couldn’t find her ID. She then got up and walked to her kitchen to grab a pot off her stove.
“Where you going?” she said to one of the deputies, to which Grayson replied lightheartedly, “away from your hot, steaming water.”
“Oh, I’ll rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” Massey said.
Grayson angrily replied, “You better (expletive) not. I swear to God. I’ll (expletive) shoot you right in your (expletive) face.”
Grayson pointed his gun at her before she said, “OK, I’m sorry.” She then tried to duck behind a counter between the kitchen and the living room, to which Grayson shouted, “Drop the (expletive) pot!” before his partner also drew his gun. Grayson repeated the command to Massey and then fired three shots.
Footage of Massey lying wounded on the kitchen floor was blurred out of the video by authorities before it was released to the news media.
Moments after the shooting, Grayson’s partner said he wanted to get his medical kit to try and stop Massey’s bleeding before paramedics arrived. Initially, Grayson discouraged him from rendering aid.
“She’s done,” Grayson said. “You can go get it, but that’s a head shot.”
“I’m not taking (expletive) boiling water to the (expletive) head,” Grayson said.
A short time later, Grayson said he was going to get his own medical kit while his partner went to the kitchen to retrieve a towel to apply pressure to Massey’s wound. At one point, someone in the video can be heard saying, “She’s still gasping a little bit.”
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Later, outside the home after police backup arrived, Grayson could be heard on his body camera video appearing to say of Massey, “Yeah I’m good. This (expletive) is crazy.”
The Sangamon County coroner’s office said Massey died of a gunshot wound to the head, with a bullet striking her underneath her left eye.
Several jobs, some concerns
The Sangamon County sheriff’s office was the sixth Illinois police department Grayson, a U.S. Army veteran, had worked for in about four years, according to records from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. Court records also show that, in the last decade, but before he entered law enforcement in Illinois, Grayson had two DUIs on his record in nearby Macoupin County.
The Invisible Institute and other partner news organizations also reported on alleged misconduct committed by Grayson prior to his getting hired in Sangamon County. Records show that when he applied, the sheriff’s office indicated it had heard from Grayson’s past employers in law enforcement, some of whom were critical of his abilities as an officer.
For instance, the police chief in Virden, a town where Grayson briefly served as a part-time cop about 25 miles south of Springfield, said he “did not demonstrate good officer safety skills,” records show. They also allude to another chief in another town where Grayson worked, saying he “needed to improve his report writing and documentation.”
A co-worker of Grayson’s at the Logan County sheriff’s office indicated Grayson “is a good deputy but (the co-worker) believes (Grayson) needs more extensive training,” according to the records. During his time working for Logan County in 2022, records showed Grayson was involved in a high-speed chase in the city of Lincoln before hitting a deer. According to one of his supervisors, Grayson “failed to show due caution while driving through stop intersections,” and records indicated there were discrepancies between Grayson’s report and video footage of the incident.
But one of Grayson’s references for the Sangamon County job, according to the records, was a former deputy there whose daughter had been dating Grayson. The former deputy “highly” recommended Grayson, describing him as “a mellow, non-confrontational person who has good communication skills.”
A psychologist who evaluated Grayson for that job said he “appears to be a suitable fit for the position” and “likes structure and routines.” But the psychologist also said Grayson “scored low on the cognitive assessment.”
“It will take him longer to learn, process and apply new material when compared to others,” the psychologist indicated.
Changes following tragedy
In August, Pritzker stood in his ceremonial office in the Illinois State Capitol with Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, Turner and other officials to formally approve Sonya Massey’s Bill, which calls for more comprehensive reviews of police applicants’ employment histories if they previously worked for other law enforcement agencies.
Under the measure, applicants must allow previous law enforcement employers to turn over “background investigation materials collected in connection with making a final offer of employment; duty-related physical and psychological fitness-for-duty examinations; work performance records,” and records of any other investigations related to an officer’s alleged criminal conduct or allegations of violating law enforcement agency rules.
Following the killing, Massey’s family also secured a $10 million settlement from Sangamon County. One of the family’s lawyers was Ben Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney who has represented the families of other Black Americans killed by law enforcement, including George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
In a recent statement, Crump and the Massey family’s Chicago-based attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said Grayson’s trial “is a critical component of justice for Sonya Massey” and the police hiring law will be “transformative for Illinois communities.”
Massey’s death also inspired the creation of the Massey Commission, formed by Turner and the Republican head of the Sangamon County Board, as a way for the Springfield area to come up with ideas to address not only law enforcement hiring but issues such as disparities within minority communities when it comes to economic, public health and other matters.
Commission member Breonna Roberts is from Springfield’s East Side, a section of the city many residents say is overlooked by government. Roberts said that various “work groups” have examined how the community’s residents have been adversely affected by governmental policies, and based on those discussions, the commission is developing recommendations on how local leaders can address these issues.
“I grew up on the East Side, so I knew what it was like to not have this city really financially care about the people that lived on that side of town, and I saw firsthand what happens when people don’t get funding for their houses, or they don’t have proper transportation to jobs, so then a lot of them face homelessness, or there’s a lot of negligence when it comes to mental health,” Roberts said. “So then you have people who struggle with drug addiction, and that is just its own thing.”
As for Wilburn, he said he was “utterly amazed” that Grayson got a job in Sangamon County, calling him “a good old boy hire.” Asked if he would forgive Grayson for what he did, Wilburn said, “Eventually, I will have to do that.”
But he’s not ready.
“You want this wound to scab over. But as I walk around through town, or I’m in a grocery store and somebody notices and they know who I am, it’s like the elephant in the room. There are people that they don’t know what to say to me because they don’t want to pull the scab off again,” said Wilburn, who lives in Arkansas. “And so it’s still too new, and we’ll have to wait until after this trial is over.”