Defendant in Brutal Eastern Connecticut Homicide Case Gets 50 Years

KILLINGLY, CT — A case involving a 2023 homicide in eastern Connecticut has ended with a 50-year sentence.

John F. Fahey, the state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Windham, said that Michael Reese, 40, was sentenced Friday by Judge Ernest Green, Jr., to 50 years in prison for the 2023 murder of 63-year-old Joyce Grayson of Brooklyn in eastern Connecticut.

Reese had entered a guilty plea in Superior Court to a murder charge.

According to case records, Grayson, a longtime visiting nurse, went to 160 Chapman Street in Willimantic, a halfway house for sexual offenders, on Oct. 28, 2023, to care for Reece.

An investigation showed she was strangled and suffered blunt-force injuries to her head and body while at the residence and her body was found in the basement area of the house after she missed several later appointments and her phone continued to ping at that location, according to case records.

Reece was apprehended by police while leaving the residence after tampering with his Global Positioning System device shortly before her body was found, according top case records.

Reece had in his possession the victim's car keys, as well as several other of her personal items, according to case records.

Further investigation revealed Reese had taken the victim's car after killing her and moved it to a different location and withdrew money from her bank account with a stolen debit card, case records show.

Fahey praised the work of the Willimantic Police Department as well as the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad.

"I want to commend both agencies on their diligent investigation into the death of Ms. Grayson," Fahey said. "While no sentence ever brings a loved one back to their family, some sense of justice was done today, in large part due to the hard work and tireless efforts of the Willimantic Police Department and the Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad."