A jury has found a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey.
The trial began last week for Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County deputy, in the fatal shooting of Massey in July 2024 after she called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home in Springfield, Illinois.
Grayson had been charged with a total of three counts in connection with Massey’s death — first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He pleaded not guilty to “all counts,” his attorney told ABC News.
Following the seven-day trial, the jury was given the option of considering second-degree murder, according ABC station WLS in Chicago. Grayson’s sentencing is set for Jan. 29, 2026. He could be sentenced from four to 20 years in prison, or probation.
The jury was instructed not to deliberate on the lower charges.
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, attorneys for Massey’s family, said in a statement Wednesday that the “verdict is still a measure of justice for Sonya Massey.” They added, “Accountability has begun, and we now hope the court will impose a meaningful sentence that reflects the severity of these crimes and the life that was lost. We will continue to fight for Sonya’s family and for reforms that protect everyone from unlawful use of force.”
“When you threaten to shoot someone in the face, and you do, that’s first-degree murder,” Sangamon County Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said during closing arguments on Tuesday, according to ABC affiliate WICS in Springfield.
In this July 30, 2024, file photo, Donna Massey, the mother of shooting victim Sonya Massey, is comforted during a press conference at New Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty Images, FILE
Rodgers said the biggest lie Grayson told was that he had no choice in shooting Massey, according to WICS. The assistant state attorney said Grayson continued to lie over and over again on the stand, including when he said he attempted to turn his body camera on.
According to bodycam footage from his partner, Grayson, who was inside Massey’s home, points to a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” according to the video.
Grayson threatens to shoot her and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt, the video shows. As she briefly rises, Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
In this July 27, 2024, file photo, mourners put up candles while attending a vigil for Sonya Massey in Folger Park in Washington, D.C.
Aashish Kiphayet/Nurphoto via Reuters, FILE
“He wants you to believe that he was scared,” Rodgers said of Grayson. “But you don’t have to believe that because it’s not true.”
The assistant state attorney said that Massey’s final words before being shot with her hands up were, “I’m sorry,” according to WICS.
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.
In rebuttal, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser referenced the defense’s instruction for the jury not to let their emotions decide the results of the trial, according to WICS.
“Huh, that’s what happened,” Milhiser said, according to WICS. “The defendant let his emotions dictate the outcome of what happened in Sonya Massey’s kitchen.”
The prosecution played Grayson’s partner’s body camera footage of the shooting on a monitor, causing multiple family members of Massey to cry or leave the courtroom, according to WICS. Grayson leaned forward over a table, not watching the monitor. One juror appeared to cry as she watched the footage, holding a notepad up to her face in an attempt to hide behind it, according to WICS.
“Here’s this giant, dangerous pot,” Milhiser said as he held up the kitchenware for the jury to see, according to WICS.
Chief Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin put the court in recess as he sent the jury out for deliberation after the closing arguments, according to WICS.
Fultz declined to provide a comment to ABC News ahead of the trial.
The footage released by Illinois State Police shows the incident from the partner’s point of view because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents reviewed by ABC News.
Grayson took the stand in his own defense Monday, telling the jury he thought Massey was threatening him the night he and his partner responded to her.
The former deputy said that after he asked her to turn off the stove, which was heating a pot of boiling water, he thought she was threatening him and was going to throw the water at him.
In body camera video, Massey doesn’t appear to raise the pot until after Grayson raises his gun, a key distinction, according to prosecutors. He shoots and kills her moments later.
Grayson told the jury that he didn’t use a taser because he had an older model and Massey was wearing multiple layers of clothing. The former deputy said he didn’t want to take the chance of it malfunctioning.
Before Grayson took the stand, his partner, who responded to Massey’s home with him, said on the stand that he did not see her as a threat before his partner fired his gun.
The trial began with jury selection on Monday, where a panel of 12 jurors was seated, according to WICS. The process took more than five hours and ended with a jury made up of nine white women, one Black man and two white men, as well as two white men and one white woman selected as alternate jurors.
The trial was moved from Sangamon County to Peoria County due to extensive media publicity.
