Sean Grayson, ex-deputy convicted of Sonya Massey’s murder, dies in prison
Sean Grayson, the former Illinois deputy convicted of murdering Sonya Massey, has died in prison while serving a 20-year sentence. Grayson had been suffering from terminal cancer and was previously denied an early medical release.
Why it matters
The case highlights ongoing issues regarding police accountability and the intersection of terminal illness with the criminal justice system.
Sean Grayson , a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy who was convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey inside her home in 2024, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Grayson’s lawyer, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday to The New York Times and The Associated Press but declined to provide any further details.
Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had reported a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter showed Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.
Grayson was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison and he was six months into serving his sentence in an Illinois prison before he died.
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