SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — Illinois deputy sheriff has been charged in the shooting of Sonya Massey was discharged from the Army for the first of two drunken driving convictions in which he had a gun in his car, authorities said. That didn’t stop multiple law enforcement agencies from giving him a badge, however.
Before his police career began with six jobs in four years — the first three of which were part-time — 30-year-old Sean Grayson was convicted of drunk driving twice within a year, costing him his military service.
The convictions plus his prior work history should have raised serious questions when the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department hired him in May 2023say law enforcement experts.
Grayson, who has since been fired, is accused of first degree murderAggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct in the death of Massey, a 36-year-old black woman in Springfield who had called 911 about a suspected burglar. Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty.
“Six jobs in four years should have been a red flag. And you would wonder why he wasn’t hired full-time for one of those (part-time) jobs,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank in Washington, D.C. “Combined with a record of drunken driving, that would be enough to warrant further investigation into whether or not he would be a good fit.”
Grayson, who enlisted in the Army in 2014, was charged with driving under the influence in Macoupin County after conducting traffic stops on Aug. 10, 2015, and again on July 26, 2016.
His first drunken driving charge led to his discharge from the military in February 2016 for “serious misconduct,” according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personal information. He added that Grayson had an unregistered weapon in his vehicle.
Macoupin County District Attorney Jordan Garrison confirmed that police found a gun in the center console, but Grayson was not charged with weapons possession because he lived in Fort Riley, Kansas. Kansas has an open carry law.
Grayson received a general discharge with honorable conditions—rather than an honorable discharge—because he had been charged by a civilian law enforcement agency and his military service was otherwise good.
His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday.
A misdemeanor DUI doesn’t legally disqualify someone from working for the police, said Sean Smoot, chairman of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, but a staffing agency could certainly consider it.
“Some police departments wouldn’t have hired someone with one DUI,” Smoot said. “I’m shocked that an agency would hire someone with two DUIs, but several agencies apparently have.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, has called for the resignation of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. “He has no intention of resigning,” Campbell spokesman Jeff Wilhite said.
A statement from Campbell’s office revealed that the county merit commission and the state law enforcement board recommended that Grayson be certified as an officer despite his DUI. He passed a drug test, a background check, a psychological evaluation and a 16-week course.
Body-cam footage of the killing released last week has rattled the city 200 miles southwest of Chicago. The NAACP was founded a year later in response to a 1908 race riot.
“Black women are being attacked,” said Teresa Haley, a consultant and founder of Visions 1908, an advocacy group for social and economic justice and education. “When I watched the video, I thought, ‘This is not a murder. This is an attack.’”
In the video, Grayson and another officer search outside Massey’s home for an intruder before knocking on her front door. Several minutes pass before Massey answers, with Grayson noting that she’s dead inside and calling out for her impatiently.
When she does, Massey, who had mental health issues, says, “Don’t hurt me,” acting confused and repeating, “Please, God.” Grayson responds condescendingly when he asks if there’s anything else he can do for her. While trying to get her name for a report, he enters the house.
“His behavior before, during and after the incident suggests that this man was a loose cannon, and that’s putting it mildly,” said Kalfani Ture, a former police officer who is now an assistant professor of criminal justice at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, and an instructor at the New York Police Department’s academy.
At Massey’s house, Grayson is seen ordering a pot of water to be removed from a flame on the stove. Massey appears to place the pot by the sink. After the two joke about Grayson stepping away from her “hot, steaming water,” Massey inexplicably says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
That prompts Grayson to pull out his gun. Massey apologizes and ducks behind a counter, but when Grayson yells at her to drop the jar, she rises back up and appears to pick it up again. Grayson fires three times, hitting her in the face. He then discourages his partner from getting his first aid kit. After he relents and gets his own kit, he returns to find first responders on the scene, drops it to the ground, and says he “won’t waste my medicine.”
“That is not characteristic of a police officer. That is characteristic of someone who has a depraved indifference to human life,” Ture said. “And this incident is not an aberration. Someone like this is quite consistent in exhibiting that kind of profile.”
Ture said Massey likely picked up the pot again because she had already put it down when Grayson told her to and was confused by his aggressive commands. He quickly resorted to deadly force despite having cover from the threat — considerable distance from Massey and a kitchen counter separating them — and had other options, including using a stun gun, chemical spray or simply subduing the smaller woman, Ture said.
When he pulled his gun, the incident escalated, Wexler said.
“He should have slowed down, communicated, had a plan B, and known where the door was to get out of the house. He should not have put himself in a position where he had no choice but to use deadly force by standing still, drawing his weapon and shouting commands,” Wexler said.
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Baldor reported from Washington, D.C.
