Ex-Illinois deputy shot Sonya Massey out of fear for his life, sheriff's report says

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The former Illinois deputy charged with murder after fatally shooting Sonya Massey in her home says he fired his gun after fearing she would throw boiling liquid at him, according to a sheriff's office report released to the public Monday.

"As I approached the cabinet, Sonya stood up from a crouched position, grabbing the pot, raising it above her head and throwing the boiling substance to me," former deputy Sean Grayson wrote in the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office report, which is dated July 9. "I was in imminent fear of getting boiling liquid to my face or chest, which would have caused great bodily harm or death. I fired my duty weapon in Sonya’s direction."

Body-camera footage from his partner shows Massey and Grayson talking in her Woodside Township home as she moves around her kitchen while he stands a few feet away with a counter in between them. Moments before he fires his gun, Massey is heard twice saying, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," which Grayson wrote he "interpreted to mean she was going to kill me."

Grayson yells at her to put down a pot of boiling liquid. He threatens to shoot her, and she ducks while saying: "I'm sorry." Massey is seen covering her face with the pot as Grayson points his gun at her. Grayson stands in front of his partner's body camera the moment he fires his weapon, obscuring the view of Massey at that moment.

Grayson's wrote in his report that he thought he had activated his body-worn camera at the beginning of the call, then realized later he hadn't and told his supervisor at the scene. He had requested and was permitted to review the footage from his partner's body camera.

Grayson indicated he gave Massey "loud, clear verbal commands" to drop the pot. After Massey ducked down behind a cabinet, Grayson said he came closer to make sure she "did not grab any other weapon."

"I fired my duty weapon in Sonya's direction," the report further read. "I observed Sonya fall to the ground behind the counter."

Grayson pleaded not guilty in Sangamon County Court on July 18 and remains in custody. He was fired from the sheriff's office after the shooting, and community members, including Massey's father, have called on Sheriff Jack Campbell to resign, which he has declined. Grayson's killing of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, has drawn demonstrations coast-to-coast and renewed calls for police reform.

Report includes accounts from other deputies

The newly released report includes 30 pages of accounts from other sheriff's deputies who responded to the shooting.

Deputy Jason Eccleston described Grayson as "visibly shaken up" and tried to support him at the scene. At his patrol car, Eccleston advised Grayson "to not speak about what happened."

Eccleston said he transported Grayson to Springfield Memorial Hospital. After Grayson was medically cleared, he was interviewed by an Illinois State Police investigator at the sheriff's office.

Sgt. James Hayes wrote in his report that an individual, whose name is redacted in the publicly released report, told him that Massey had been in a medical facility out of town. The person described to Hayes how Massey was in her yard "yelling. At one point, Massey threw a brick through one of the windows of her own vehicle."

Hayes also wrote he initially thought Massey had shot herself when he arrived at her house. He also wrote Grayson told him that Massey "came at him with boiling water and he shot her."

On July 5, the day before she was shot, Massey told a sheriff's deputy in an interview at St. John's Hospital that she broke the window on the back driver's side "in an attempt to get into the car to get away (from a neighbor). She was unable to get in through the back, so she ripped out the driver side window in order to gain entry into the vehicle" resulting in some minor scrapes.

On the same day, Massey's mother detailed in a 911 call that her daughter was having "a mental breakdown," asked police not to send any "combative" officers, and said, "I don't want you guys to hurt her."