This story was originally published in the Illinois Times.
A Peoria County jury found former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson guilty Oct. 28 of second-degree murder, deciding that he mistakenly believed he was justified in shooting and killing Sonya Massey to avoid being scalded by a pot of hot water she had raised over her head. Jurors were chosen from that county because of extensive pretrial publicity in Sangamon County.
The jury took the second-degree murder option rather than convicting Grayson of the first-degree murder charges originally leveled against Grayson after the July 6, 2024, killing of Massey in her Woodside Township home in the “Cabbage Patch” neighborhood just south of Springfield’s east side.
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin gave the nine women and three men of the jury the second-degree option before they began deliberations. Grayson and Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser both agreed to offer the potential alternative.
The jury determined Grayson’s conduct met the legal standard for first-degree murder but that his belief that he was acting in self-defense was a mitigating factor.
If convicted of first-degree murder in the case, Grayson could have faced a mandatory prison sentence of 45 years to life.
Second-degree murder charges carry a potential prison sentence of four to 20 years, with the possibility of a 50% reduction in time served with good behavior. A second-degree murder conviction also gives a judge Cadagin the option to sentence Grayson to probation and no prison time. Sentencing is set for 9 a.m. Jan. 29 in Sangamon County.
Grayson, 31, a Riverton resident who had pleaded not guilty, has been incarcerated and denied pretrial release since his arrest about 10 days after the incident.
Grayson, who was hired as a deputy in May 2023, was dispatched to Massey’s home in the “Cabbage Patch” neighborhood in unincorporated Sangamon County, just south of Springfield’s east side, after Massey called 911 after suspecting a prowler in the neighborhood.
The early morning incident on July 6, 2024, ended with Grayson shooting at Massey three times, with one bullet striking her below the left eye and severing her left carotid artery. Grayson pleaded not guilty and contended that he was acting in self-defense when Massey picked up a pot of water that had been boiling on her stove and eventually raised the pot above her head and tried to throw the water at him.
Milhiser didn’t dispute that freeze-frame analysis of police-worn camera video showed Massey raising the pot. But he said in his part of the prosecution’s closing argument Oct. 28 that Grayson “didn’t keep his emotions in check,” disregarded his crisis-intervention training and acted like “a bully” with Massey.
Milhiser contended that Massey held up the pot as a shield “to save her life” after Grayson drew his gun, pointed at her and said he would shoot her in the face if she didn’t comply with his order to drop the pot.
The pot became part of the incident when Grayson and another deputy, Dawson Farley, were talking with Massey and noticed water boiling on her stove and asked her to turn off the burner.
Grayson testified earlier that he was surprised when Massey, who stood up after sitting on a nearby couch, picked up the pot with oven mitts and walked toward him and placed the pot on a counter near a sink.
When Grayson told Massey he backed away to avoid her “hot, steaming water,” Massey is heard saying on body-worn police video as saying twice, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson testified he interpreted that comment from Massey as a threat. He said he pulled his gun out of its holster, pointed it at Massey and threatened to shoot her in the face. Seeing the weapon, Massey then put her hands in the air and said to Grayson, “I’m sorry.”
For an unknown reason, Massey then ducked behind the counter. Grayson testified that with his gun still drawn, he moved closer to Massey to make sure she wasn’t looking for a weapon on the ground and because he wanted to handcuff her to arrest her for what he perceived to be a threat.
A fraction of a second after that, Massey stood back up, grasped the pot again, lifted it over her head and was in the middle of a throwing motion when Grayson fired his gun three times.
Experts on police use of force called by the defense said Massey was the aggressor who forced Grayson to use deadly force.
But experts called by the prosecution contradicted this contention. And Milhiser told the jury he was glad bodycam video from Grayson and Farley was able to give a full picture of the situation.
The video, Milhiser said, indicated Grayson disregarded his training on how to deescalate tense situations and handle people such as Massey, who was dealing with mental illness.
Defense attorney Dan Fultz asked the jury to trust the videocam footage as well, but to focus on the individual frames that showed Massey raising the pot.
Fultz said Grayson never changed his story over the past 15 months that he feared for his life when he made the decision to shoot.
“He believed that that was the only option available to him,” Fultz told the jury. “It is the perception of the officer that matters. … As hard as it is to hear, the outcome of this case was driven by Sonya Massey.”
Fultz told the jury that Farley, who testified earlier in the trial, lied to Illinois State Police when he approached ISP officials several weeks after the incident to “clarify” his story.
Farley, who at first told ISP that he, too, feared Massey would harm him with hot water in the pot, later told ISP that he instead feared Grayson because of Grayson’s actions inside Massey’s home.
First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said Grayson lied several times on the stand and knew Massey “wasn’t dangerous. … He knew how to slow things down, but he didn’t.”
The shooting happened, Rodgers said, “not because Sonya was in crisis, but because he snapped. … He could have left the house. He’d like you to believe he was scared.”
Rodgers said Grayson “provoked any use of force against himself. Just because he’s wearing a uniform doesn’t mean he gets to use deadly force. … She’s allowed to defend herself in her kitchen. She’s not the initial aggressor.”
Milhiser concluded the prosecution’s closing argument by replaying parts of the bodycam footage of the incident.
While the video was playing, one female juror began crying, and covering her face with her note pad, after the unredacted video showed Massey being shot and Farley applying pressure to her face with a cloth in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to prevent Massey from bleeding to death.
