Sean Grayson, a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy, was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder in the 2024 death of Sonya Massey, a Black mother of two who had called 911 about a possible prowler.
Grayson was charged with first-degree murder, but jury instructions included the option to convict him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Jurors deliberated for almost 12 hours after closing arguments ended late Tuesday morning. Grayson’s family cried and held hands as the verdict was read.
Outside the courthouse, protesters celebrated the guilty verdict and chanted, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represented her family in a $10 million civil settlement, said that they believe Grayson’s actions warranted a first-degree murder conviction but that it was “still a measure of justice for Sonya Massey.”
“I’m fueled by rage right now,” Sontae Massey, one of Sonya’s cousins, said outside the courthouse. “If you get an officer who says he’s going to shoot you in the face, and then he shoots you in the face, and you only get second-degree murder?”
Former federal prosecutor Mark Chutkow said the defense made a “strategic decision” to include the second-degree murder charge.
“The prosecution likely felt confident about their case and was willing to go for an all-or-nothing verdict. But the defense did not want to take that chance, so they advocated for a lesser included charge,” he told NBC News.
Grayson faces four to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. Under state law, he would most likely be eligible to get day-for-day credit for good behavior in prison, meaning he could end up serving only half his sentence.
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said he hopes the judge gives Grayson the maximum sentence.
“He showed no remorse. He was so cocky throughout this whole trial,” until he was convicted, Wilburn said. “Yeah, that knocked the smirk off.”
Grayson was charged in July 2024 in the fatal shooting of Massey, who had called authorities over concerns about the possible prowler outside her Springfield home. Body camera video shows the moments she was shot and killed in her kitchen during a confrontation over a pot of boiling water.
Her death led to calls for justice and protests across the country and reignited scrutiny about law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes. Grayson is white.
“There’s a difference in this country when you have my skin color and Grayson’s skin color. We need serious justice, not a miscarriage of justice that happened here in Peoria,” Wilburn said.
In Illinois, the Sonya Massey Act was signed in August, requiring stricter background checks in police hiring.
Last week, Grayson’s former partner, Deputy Dawson Farley, testified that he was not scared by any of Massey’s actions. He said he drew his weapon because he was “trying to back my partner.”
In closing arguments, the defense pointed out that Farley amended his police report after Grayson was charged with first-degree murder, arguing Farley lied and changed his account.
The body camera video central to this case was played in the courtroom three times, showing Massey talking to the deputies and removing a pot of hot water from her stove shortly before the shooting.
On Monday, Grayson took the stand in his own defense, telling the court that he believed Massey was going to throw the boiling water on him after she said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
He testified that he took her remark as a threat and that that is why he drew his firearm. Grayson said he did not try to use his stun gun because he was not sure whether it would work because of her clothing.
“I didn’t want to take the chance of the Taser malfunctioning,” he said.
In closing arguments Tuesday, First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers said Massey made no sudden movements and complied “peacefully” with the order to drop the pot of water.
“‘I’m sorry.’ That is the last thing Sonya Massey said before the defendant murdered her, just like he said he would,” she told the jury.
“He wants you to believe he was scared, but you don’t have to believe that, because it’s not true,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers argued that Grayson did not get to claim self-defense justified his shooting because he provoked the use of force himself.
Daniel Fultz, Grayson’s attorney, said Massey did initially comply and put the pot down, but “she escalated the situation when she picked the pot back up, stood up, raised it over her head and began to throw it.”
He argued that Grayson drew his weapon to gain Massey’s compliance and said her death “was a tragedy, but it was not a crime.”
“You are not here to decide whether or not Sean Grayson followed every single policy, every national best practice, every policing principle that experts believe he should have followed,” he said in his closing argument. “That is not what we are doing in this criminal court today.”
Fultz said Grayson believed his pistol was his only option, and he highlighted expert testimony that Grayson had to advance toward Massey to maintain a line of sight on her.
Fultz asked jurors not to let their emotions dictate the outcome of the case.
In Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser’s final closing argument to the jury, he argued that it was Grayson who let his emotions dictate what happened in Massey’s kitchen.
“These were not the actions of a scared young police officer doing a dangerous job. These are the actions of a bully,” Milhiser said. “If anyone was in crisis, it was him. He snapped.”
