Feds Investigating IL Sheriff's Office After Sonya Massey Shooting

SPRINGFIELD, IL — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a discrimination investigation into the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office after then-deputy Sean Grayson killed Springfield area resident Sonya Massey over the summer while responding to a call at her home.

Grayson, who was terminated and charged with first-degree murder and other offenses, is white. Massey, who had struggled with mental illness, was Black.

“The incident raises serious concerns about SCSO’s interactions with Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities, as well as SCSO’s policies, practices, procedures, and training regarding community policing, bias-free policing, response to behavioral health crises, use of force, de-escalation, affirmative duty to intervene, affirmative duty to render medical aid, and body-worn camera (‘BWC’) policies and compliance,” officials from the department’s Civil Rights Division said in a letter Thursday to county authorities.

“Additionally, the incident and prior 911 calls involving Ms. Massey in the days before her death indicate possible issues with Sangamon County, SCSO, and SCCDS’s emergency response and dispatch system. Finally, DOJ has reviewed reports concerning SCSO’s employment practices, including allegations that a lack of racial diversity at SCSO impacts SCSO’s provision of policing services in communities of color.”

The letter was sent following a request for a review of the sheriff’s office’s hiring practices, procedures, complaints and disciplinary actions that was brought by the Massey Commission, which was established in response to Massey’s killing.

“We aim to meet the deadlines outlined in the DOJ’s request and look forward to their conclusions and recommendations,” Sheriff Paula Crouch, who replaced former sheriff Jack Campbell after his retirement in the wake of Massey’s death, told 25News Now in a prepared statement. “This process is an important step in building community-wide confidence and strengthening our delivery of fair and effective services to the residents of Sangamon County.”

Massey called 911 around 1 a.m. July 6 about a possible prowler at her home, and Grayson was among the deputies who responded. She was moving a pot off the stove when one of the deputies told her he was stepping “away from your hot steaming water,” according to body camera footage.

“Away from my hot steaming water?” she replied. “Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

The mood shifted drastically as Grayson threatened to shoot Massey in the face, the footage showed. She apologized and ducked behind a counter as the deputies both drew guns and shouted at her to drop the pot that she had been holding, which she appeared to have left near the sink area of her kitchen counter when she ducked. She then popped back up and was seen holding what appeared to be the pot as three shots were heard and water was visible on the kitchen floor.

Prior to being hired by Sangamon County, Grayson had worked at five other law enforcement agencies since mid-2020, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. He was also charged with driving under the influence in 2015 and 2016, and pleaded guilty both times, Macoupin County court records showed. The first DUI 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.