Former deputy gets prison in shooting of unarmed Black woman

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An Illinois judge on Thursday sentenced a former sheriff’s deputy to the maximum 20 years in prison in the July 2024 fatal shooting of an unarmed Black woman in her home after she called the 911 emergency line to report a possible intruder, according to court records.

Sean Grayson, a former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, was convicted in October of second-degree murder in the death of Sonya Massey, 36, in her Springfield, Illinois, home.

The case has been likened to other high-profile instances of law enforcement officers using excessive force on Black Americans and garnered national attention.

On the night of her death, Massey had called 911 for help after she found a broken window in her home and feared a prowler might be in the house.

Grayson and another deputy entered her home and asked for her identification, according to court testimony. At some point in the interaction, she held a pot of boiling water that deputies asked her to check on.

Grayson’s attorneys claimed in court that he thought Massey was going to throw the pot of water at him.

First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers told the court that Massey complied with the order to drop the pot of water and was then shot by Grayson as he cursed at her.

“That bit of unreasonable rage needs to be deterred,” Judge Ryan Cadigan of the 7th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois said during the sentencing.

According to media accounts, Grayson on Thursday apologized in court to the family for his actions and “terrible decisions” that night.

Grayson’s defense attorney, Mark Wykoff, asked the judge to spare Grayson prison time as he is suffering from Stage 3 colon cancer that has spread, according to media accounts.

Massey’s family was previously awarded a $10 million settlement from Sangamon County over the death.

Reporting by Rich McKay In Atlanta; editing by Donna Bryson and Deepa Babington.