Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Sonya Massey, more than a year after he fatally shot her inside her home.
The verdict came on Wednesday afternoon, October 29, following a week-long trial and a day of jury deliberations that began Tuesday morning.
Grayson was arrested in July 2024 after shooting Massey, who had called 911 to report a possible prowler near her residence. The case drew national outrage after the release of bodycam footage showing the chilling sequence of events that led to her death.
The video showed Massey turning off a stove burner and carrying a pot of boiling water to the sink as two deputies stood nearby. Moments later, Grayson lost his temper, shouting at her to “drop the pot” before stepping forward and shooting her at close range.
Massey died from her injuries, and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office later fired Grayson, who claimed he acted out of fear that she was going to throw the hot water at him.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Massey’s family, dismissed the former deputy’s justification, calling the shooting an act of excessive force and racial bias. He stated that Massey posed no threat and that Grayson’s actions were “unprovoked and unjustifiable.”
Following the killing, Massey’s family reached a $10 million civil settlement with local authorities in connection to her wrongful death.
Grayson now faces sentencing for second-degree murder, marking a rare conviction of a police officer involved in a fatal shooting and a significant step toward justice for Sonya Massey and her family.