Sheriff's deputy got mad and fatally shot Sonya Massey without
justification, prosecutor says
[October 23, 2025]
By JOHN O'CONNOR
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois sheriff's deputy who killed Sonya
Massey in her Springfield home last year eschewed his training and the
principles of policing when he shot the Black woman who had called 911
for help, a prosecutor said Wednesday in Sean Grayson's murder trial.
Grayson, who is white, faces three counts of first-degree murder for
shooting the 36-year-old single mother on July 6, 2024, during a
confrontation over her handling of a pot of hot water she removed from
her stove.
The jury watched unedited body camera video of the encounter, prompting
some jurors to recoil and cover their mouths while Grayson looked down
for much of it. Massey's mother left the courtroom in tears.
Earlier, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser told the jury
that the video would show Massey posed no threat when Grayson and fellow
Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Dawson Farley entered her home. Massey,
who had mental health problems, had called 911 about a suspected
prowler.
“She’s a little scattered, but she’s nice and kind and talking to him
and you’ll see that interaction,” Milhiser said during opening
statements. “You will see what happens when the defendant gets mad at a
woman who is in her kitchen and has called for help. He gets mad and
shoots and kills her without lawful justification.”
“He did not follow his training. He did not follow police principles.”
Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, told the jury that when Massey
approached with the pot of water, Grayson repeatedly demanded she put it
down before “making a decision no police officer wants to make.”
“Ms. Massey lifted the pot of water above her head and the evidence will
show that the use of force was reasonable under the circumstances
without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight,” Fultz said. “What happened to
Ms. Massey was a tragedy, but it was not a crime.”
The killing has prompted continued questions about U.S. law enforcement
shootings of Black people in their homes and generated a change in
Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the background of
candidates for law enforcement jobs.
Grayson, 31, has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of murder, he faces 45
years to life in prison. Prosecutors dismissed single counts of
aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Grayson and Farley had entered Massey's home to report they had found no
suspicious activity when Grayson noticed the pot on the stove and
ordered it removed.
[to top of second column]
|
The Peoria County Courthouse in Peoria, Ill., shown on Friday, Oct.
17, 2025. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)
The body camera video shows Grayson and Massey joking about how the
deputy backed away as she moved the pot before Massey said, “I
rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson later told sheriff's
investigators he thought Massey's statement meant she intended to
kill him. He yelled at her to drop the pot. In the subsequent
commotion, he fired three shots, striking her just below the eye.
Farley testified that he drew his weapon after Grayson did because
department policy calls for a deputy to do so when a partner does.
“She just never did or said anything that made me think she was a
threat,” Farley said. “Looking across the room and seeing my partner
draw his gun — it was the defendant's actions that made me have a
heightened sense of awareness.”
Under Fultz's questioning, Farley acknowledged that his initial
report days after the shooting claimed he feared for his safety from
the hot water and that Massey held the pot chest high. Farley said
that after Grayson was indicted he sought to amend his statement to
the Illinois State Police to “clarify” that it was Grayson’s
response, not the hot water, that rattled him and that it was an
oven mitt, not the pot, that Massey held chest-high.
At the time, Farley was serving a one-year probationary period and
subject to firing for any reason. He said his union representative
advised against further state police contact.
Earlier, Illinois State Police Lt. Eric Weston, a crime scene
investigator, told defense attorney Mark Wykoff that he collected
two shell casings from Grayson's 9 mm pistol at Massey's home the
morning of the shooting. The third casing was picked up days later,
when he learned three shots had been fired. But the pot sat
untouched in the house for weeks.
“You knew an hour after the event occurred that the pot was
basically employed as a weapon, but you didn’t collect it then,”
Wykoff said. “You didn’t collect it during the second search when
the third cartridge was collected. You collected it about two weeks
later.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
