Lawyers for Sonya Massey's family say $10M settlement 'first step;' await trial, legislative changes

[February 13, 2025]  By JOHN O'CONNOR

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A $10 million settlement between county officials in Springfield, Illinois, and the family of Sonya Massey is the “first step in getting full justice” for the Black woman fatally shot in her home last summer by a sheriff's deputy, lawyers said Wednesday.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters the settlement, approved Tuesday night by the Sangamon County Board, is poignant, particularly because Massey would have turned 37 on Wednesday and because a criminal trial and legislative changes await.

“It is bittersweet,” Crump said in an online news conference. “This is our first step in getting full justice for Sonya Massey. ... We want civil accountability, criminal culpability and we want legislative changes. We want the laws to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Ex-sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson, 30, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting after responding to a call from Massey, who suffered mental health challenges, about a suspected prowler. He shot her while she was moving a pot of hot water from her stove.

Joining Crump, his associates and family members was state Rep. Justin Slaughter, a Chicago Democrat who has introduced legislation to provide more accountability to the hiring of police officers in part by ensuring their records at previous departments are fully disclosed. Grayson worked for six police departments in four years and had some disciplinary and legal problems.

“My heart is heavy today,” said Massey's father, James Wilburn, who thanked Slaughter and Springfield Democratic state Sen. Doris Turner for their legislation to rein in “frequent flyers who go from one department to another” so “no one else would have to feel the kind of hurt that we are feeling today.”

Sangamon County officials said they would pay the award from a settlement account and reserves from other county funds. Disbursement of the money will be decided by a court but will go to Massey's two teenage children, attorney Antonio Romanucci said. A court also decides compensation for attorneys, but “the lion's share will go to the family,” Crump said.

Malachi Hill Massey, 17, center, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the NAACP headquarters in Springfield, Ill., about his mother, Sonya Massey, who was shot to death by a Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy on July 6 in Springfield after calling 911 for help. On the left is civil right attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Massey family. On the right is Sonya Massey's daughter, Jeanette Summer Massey, 15. (AP Photo/John O'Connor, File)

The case has drawn national attention as another example of police shooting Black people in their homes. It forced the premature retirement of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, who hired Grayson, and prompted an agreement with the Justice Department for more training on non-discriminatory policing, de-escalation techniques and dealing with mental health disabilities.

Massey, whose mental health issues were the subject of several 911 calls from herself and her mother in the days leading up to the shooting, called emergency responders early July 6 to report a suspected prowler. Grayson and another deputy responded. During a conversation in her living room, Grayson noticed a pot of water on the stove and directed the other officer to remove it.

Massey retrieved the pot and joked with Grayson about how he backed away from it, then told Grayson, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot and drew his weapon. Massey apologized and ducked behind a counter. Grayson fired three shots, striking her just below the left eye.

Grayson remains jailed despite a unanimous 4th District Appellate Court ruling in November that his pre-trial detention was improper. The panel of justices said prosecutors failed to show there were no conditions under which Grayson could be released without posing a threat to the community. Illinois eliminated cash bail in a law Slaughter sponsored which took effect in 2023, allowing judges to order detention only with sufficient cause.

The Illinois Supreme Court is considering an appeal of that ruling.

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