Jury selection is set to begin on Monday in the trial of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the July 6, 2024, fatal shooting of Sonya Massey.
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” according to the video.
Grayson said he feared for his life during his encounter with Massey, according to documents released by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in August of 2024.
Grayson was fired in July 2024 by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office after he was indicted in this case.
Like to see my mom making some change … that means the world to me,” said Massey’s son Malachi Hill Massey.
The trial of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who was charged with first-degree murder in relation to the July 6, 2024, shooting death of Sonya Massey, is scheduled to start jury selection on Monday.
In relation to Massey’s passing, Grayson was charged with three counts in all: first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.
Daniel Fultz, Grayson’s lawyer, confirmed that his client has “pleaded not guilty to all charges” but declined to comment when asked by ABC News. “.”.
Due to widespread media attention, the trial was rescheduled from Sangamon County to Peoria County and will now take place in Peoria, Illinois.
On July 22, 2024, Illinois State Police released body camera footage of the incident, which shows Massey saying, “Please, don’t hurt me,” after Grayson and another responding deputy knocked on her door.
Grayson answered, “You called us, and I don’t want to hurt you.”.
“We don’t need a fire while we’re in here,” Grayson, who was inside Massey’s house, says later in the video, pointing to a pot of boiling water on her stove. “.”.
In the video, Massey then says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” after pouring the water into the sink.
As seen in the video, Massey apologizes and hides behind a counter, covering her face with what looks to be a red oven mitt, after Grayson threatens to shoot her. The video shows that Grayson shoots her three times in the face as she momentarily stands up.
Sangamon County coroner Jim Allmon confirmed to ABC News that Massey’s autopsy report, which was made public on July 26, 2024, stated that she was shot in the head and died by homicide.
In August 2024, documents made public by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Grayson claimed he feared for his life when he met Massey.
“I was afraid while I was on the scene, Dep. (redacted), and I was either going to die or suffer severe physical injuries. In his field case report, Grayson stated, “I fired my duty weapon because I was afraid for our safety and lives.
According to Massey’s family lawyer Ben Crump, the autopsy established that this was an “unnecessary excessive use of force, completely unnecessary, certainly not justified.”. “.”.
According to Crump, Massey had experienced mental health issues.
Prosecutors claimed that because Grayson believed Massey’s injuries were too serious to be treated, he dissuaded his partner from getting the medical kit to help her after the shooting.
In a September pre-trial hearing, the case’s judge rendered a decision. WICS, an ABC affiliate in Springfield, Illinois, reported that the court denied the defense’s request to have body camera footage from the shooting of Massey excluded on May 15, 2025.
According to court documents analyzed by ABC News, Grayson did not activate his own body camera until after the shooting, so the body camera footage made public by Illinois State Police depicts the event from his partner’s perspective.
After reviewing the case, Illinois State Police concluded that Grayson’s use of lethal force was not warranted. After being charged with this crime, Grayson was let go by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in July 2024.
The Macon County jail has been holding Grayson pending his trial.
After revealing that Grayson had stage 3 colon cancer, his lawyers argued for his pretrial release, arguing that incarceration would prevent him from receiving the necessary care. An appeal court made a decision in November. Prosecutors appealed the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court last December, pausing the decision that Grayson could be released on pretrial conditions on December 27, 2024.
In part, prosecutors contended that Grayson behaved “impulsively” and was unreliable in adhering to pretrial release requirements.
Grayson had been released from the U.S. military before joining the public police force. A. Army for an undisclosed “misconduct (serious offense),” per records ABC News was able to obtain.
According to court records, Grayson was also charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, ABC News learned.
To both charges, he entered a guilty plea. Due to the 2015 incident, he had his car seized and paid more than $1,320 in fines. According to court documents, Grayson paid more than $2,400 in fines in 2016.
Governor of Illinois. New legislation was signed by JB Pritzker in August. An ABC station in Chicago, WLS, reported that 12 was influenced by Massey’s passing. The law requires departments to thoroughly investigate a candidate’s background before hiring them, which makes hiring procedures more stringent for law enforcement agencies.
“To me, it is everything. I would like to watch my mother make some changes. Malachi Hill Massey, Massey’s son, said, “That means the world to me.”.
This report was contributed by Sabina Ghebremedhin of ABC News.
