Former Sangamon County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson has died in prison while serving a 20-year sentence for the 2024 fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, according to CBS News. His attorney, Daniel Fulton, announced his death Sunday. Grayson had been living with Stage 4 colon cancer. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2023, which later progressed and spread to his liver and lungs, according to Capitol News Illinois.
Grayson was convicted of second-degree murder after fatally shooting 36-year-old Massey, who had called 911 to report a possible intruder at her Springfield home in July 2024.
Body-camera footage shows Massey saying, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” after being instructed to turn off a pot of boiling water. Grayson then threatened to shoot her before firing three times. Massey was fatally struck in the head.
Grayson later claimed in a handwritten statement that Massey attacked him with the pot of boiling water, but the video showed that he was several feet away, with a kitchen island between them, when he opened fire.
Last month, a three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board unanimously denied Grayson’s request for early release, keeping him in custody until his death.
Attorneys for Massey’s family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, said Grayson’s death does not bring her and offered prayers to his family, according to the Illinois Times.
“Sonya Massey’s death was on justifiable, and she should be alive today. Sean Grayson’s death in custody from cancer does not bring Sonya back,” Crump and Romanucci stated.
“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 for the rest of their days.@
