The former sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey had been employed by six agencies since 2020, Illinois law enforcement records show. And he twice pleaded guilty 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 he shot and killed Massey in her home in Springfield, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago.
Massey, 36, had called 911 to report a suspected prowler. Grayson and another deputy, who has not been identified, responded just before 1 a.m. on July 6, and Grayson shot her in the head in a dispute over a pot 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 employment history includes short stints as a part-time officer at three small police departments in Illinois.
NBC News has requested his personnel files from each agency, and has received responses from three so far. Records provided by those three do not include any complaints or disciplinary action against Grayson. All of the agencies he worked for are in central Illinois.
Grayson worked part time at the Pawnee, Kincaid and Virden police departments, state records show, with his time at Pawnee and Kincaid overlapping. He worked full time at the Auburn Police Department and the sheriff’s departments in Logan and Sangamon counties.
DJ Mathon, the chief of the Kincaid Police Department, said Grayson worked there part time from Feb. 4 to May 18, 2021, and was let go by the Village of Kincaid Board when he refused to live within a 10-mile radius of the village. Mathon said the department did not have any written complaints against Grayson and no disciplinary actions were 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 Grayson’s reason for leaving is unknown because it did not receive a resignation from him. An official from the department said that “he just stopped covering shifts.” His separation date was Dec. 31, 2021, though records show that he began working in Auburn months before. He wrote in the application for 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 a little less than a year, before joining the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
In his letter of resignation from the Auburn Police Department, Grayson wrote that he “had nothing but a positive experience working as an officer.”
“I appreciate the opportunity you presented to me and I am sincerely grateful for everything you and this department has done for me,” he wrote. “I will take everything I have learned from you and this department and continue to learn and grow.”
Grayson received his part-time Law Enforcement Certification on June 5, 2021, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. His certification status reads as suspended on the board’s website.
Court records show Grayson twice pleaded guilty 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 about whether they were aware of his past DUI arrests, which were disclosed in his application to the Auburn Police Department, records show. He also noted in that application that he at some point had had his license revoked or suspended.
Body camera footage shows that Grayson declined to render aid as Massey lay dying and had discouraged his partner from trying to save her.
“The other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Ms. Massey until medical help arrived,” a prosecutor wrote in court documents, adding that Grayson “at no time attempted to render aid to Ms. Massey.”
Grayson, 30, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges. He is being detained in the Sangamon County Jail without bond.
Last week, after the Illinois State Police concluded its investigation into the shooting, as required by state law, the sheriff’s office said Grayson was fired because the investigation had made it clear that 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’s investigation, including the body-worn camera footage, “does not support a finding that Deputy Sean Grayson was justified in his use of deadly force.”
The fatal shooting has drawn comments from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the Justice Department said it “is aware of and assessing the circumstances” surrounding it. The Justice Department said it “will continue to track the criminal case opened by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney.”
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