Sean Grayson, Ex-Cop Convicted of Killing Sonya Massey, Dies 6 Months Into His Sentence

NYPost.com:

Sean Grayson, the ex-Illinois sheriff’s deputy who was sentenced to two decades in prison for killing single mom Sonya Massey after she called 911 for help, has died, according to his attorney. 

 

His defense attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed to The Post that Grayson, 32, died early Sunday. The former deputy had been diagnosed with colon cancer before the 2024 shooting, and in January, his attorney noted that his cancer had advanced to his liver and lungs. 

 

A three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted unanimously in July to deny Grayson’s application for an early medical release. Fultz was unable to comment on whether Grayson’s death was related to his cancer diagnosis. He was six months into his 20-year second-degree murder sentence for fatally shooting Massey in her Springfield, Illinois, home on July 6, 2024 after she called 911 about a possible prowler.

Karma is so beautiful to watch sometimes. RIP Sonya Massey.

RELATED: Sean Grayson’s History of Misconduct

Former Illinois Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson Sentenced to 20 Years for Murder of Sonya Massey

RollingStone.com:

Former Illinois Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Sonya Massey. Grayson fatally shot Massey in her home in 2024 after she called 911 to report a suspected intruder in her Springfield home. 

 

Grayson was convicted in October of second-degree murder. During his sentencing on Thursday, Grayson, who is white, said he made “terrible decisions” the night he killed Massey, a Black mother of two, and apologized in court for her death. “I was very unprofessional that night,” Grayson said via NBC News. “She didn’t deserve to be yelled and cussed at and called names. Nobody deserves that.” 

 

Grayson was given the maximum penalty, with Judge Ryan Cadigan of the 7th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois saying, “that bit of unreasonable rage needs to be deterred.” Judge Cadigan also denied the defense’s motion for a new trial, which they filed in November. After serving 20 years, Grayson will be under supervised probation for two years.

In my opinion, 20 years isn’t enough. Grayson should have been convicted of first-degree murder in the first place and sentenced to life without parole: that’s how callous and evil his actions were the night he killed Sonya Massey in her own home. But what I also find striking is the relative lack of national coverage and outrage surrounding this case, especially from many prominent voices on the Left. Given that it involves a racist, white police officer killing an unarmed Black woman, it seems like the kind of case that would once have sparked wall-to-wall attention and activism. Which raises some questions for me: Has the urgency around police brutality faded over the years? Is there a leadership vacuum in black activist spaces? Or has political focus shifted so heavily toward national electoral battles and partisan fights that cases like this don’t receive the same sustained attention? It’s something worth thinking about.

RELATED: Deputy who killed Sonya Massey was removed from the Army, had DUIs and needed ‘high stress decision’ classes, records show