The former sheriff charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey had worked for six agencies since 2020, Illinois police records show. And he pleaded guilty twice to driving under the influence of alcohol before he began working in law enforcement, according to court records.
Sean Grayson was fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office last Wednesday, nearly two weeks after shooting and killing Massey in his home in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago.
Massey, 36, called 911 to report a suspected burglar. Grayson and another deputy, who was not identified, responded shortly before 1 a.m. on July 6, and Grayson shot her in the head in a dispute over a bowl of water after she told him, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, ” Body camera video released Monday shows.
Massey was black. Grayson is white. His professional history includes short stints as a part-time officer in three small police departments in Illinois.
NBC News requested their personnel files from each agency and has received responses from three so far. The records provided by these three do not include any complaints or disciplinary actions against Grayson. All of the agencies he has worked for are in central Illinois.
Grayson worked part-time at the Pawnee, Kincaid and Virden police departments, state records show, with his time in Pawnee and Kincaid overlapping. He worked full-time for the Auburn Police Department and the sheriff’s departments in Logan and Sangamon counties.
DJ Mathon, chief of the Kincaid Police Department, said Grayson worked there part-time from Feb. 4 to May 18, 2021, and was terminated by the Kincaid Village Council when he refused to live within a 10-mile radius of the Kincaid Police Department. Village. Mathon said the department had no written complaints against Grayson and no disciplinary action was taken against him.
Grayson was hired by the Virden Police Department shortly after leaving Kincaid at a rate of $17.50 per hour, records obtained by NBC News show. He worked there part-time for several months. The police department employs nine officers.
The department said the reason for Grayson’s departure is unknown because he did not receive his resignation. A department official said “he just stopped covering shifts.” The date of his separation was December 31, 2021, although records show he began working at Auburn months earlier. He wrote in the application to Auburn that he was leaving Virden because he wanted to be a full-time officer.
Grayson worked full-time at the Auburn Police Department from July 2021 to May 2022, and then at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office for just under a year before joining the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
In his resignation letter from the Auburn Police Department, Grayson wrote that he “has had nothing but a positive experience working as a police officer.”
“I appreciate the opportunity you presented to me and I am sincerely grateful for everything you and this department have done for me,” he wrote. “I’m going to take everything I’ve learned from you and this department and continue to learn and grow.”
Grayson received his part-time certification in law enforcement on June 5, 2021, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Standards and Training Board. Your certification status is suspended on the board’s website.
Court records show that Grayson pleaded guilty twice to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, in 2015 and in 2016. The Virden and Kincaid police departments did not return requests for comment on whether they were aware of his previous DUI arrests that have been publicized. in his application to the Auburn Police Department, records show. He also noted in that application that at some point his license was revoked or suspended.
Body camera footage shows that Grayson refused to provide help as Massey lay dying and discouraged his partner from trying to save her.
“The other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Ms. Massey until medical aid arrived,” a prosecutor wrote in court documents, adding that Grayson “at no point attempted to render aid to Ms. Massey.”
Grayson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct charges. He is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond.
Last week, after the Illinois State Police completed their investigation into the shooting as required by state law, the sheriff’s office said Grayson was fired because the investigation made clear he “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards. ”
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said a review of the state police investigation, including body-worn camera footage, “does not support the conclusion that Deputy Sean Grayson was justified in his use of deadly force.” .
The fatal shooting drew comments from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Justice Department said it “is aware of and evaluating the circumstances” surrounding it. The Justice Department said it “will continue to monitor the criminal case filed by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney.”
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