He was sent to protect her. Instead he killed her.

Trigger warning: this article contains description of a shooting as taken from bodycam footage and court documents

On July 6th, 2024, Sonya Massey – a 36 year old woman living in Woodside Township near Springfield, Illinois in the USA, called 911 because she feared there was a prowler outside her home. When officers responded they looked around the property but didn’t find anyone outside. As the conversation on Massey’s front step began to wind down, Massey said, “love y’all, thank y’all” and started to re-enter her house.

The deputies – Sean Grayson and Dawson Farley – briefly asked her about a broken down SUV nearby. Then as Massey re-entered her house they followed her inside. Although she wasn’t under arrest and had done nothing wrong, Grayson asked to see her identification.

While Massey sat on a couch in the living room and looked through her purse for her identification, Grayson saw a pot of water on the kitchen stove and said, “We don’t need a fire while we’re here.” He told her to take the pot off of the stove.

Grayson remained in the living room while Massey walked over to the stove, turned off the burner, carried the pot to the sink, and turned on the faucet, complying with Grayson’s command.

The two deputies remained in the living room. She asked the deputies what they were doing, and Grayson saidchuckled saying, “Getting away from your hot, steaming water.”

Massey muttered “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus”.

Grayson says “Huh?”

The tiny woman started to repeat herself. “I rebuke you in the name of – ”

Grayson snapped, yelling “You better fucking not. I swear to God, I’ll fucking shoot you right in your fucking face!” As he screamed at her he drew his 9mm pistol and pointed it at her head.

Massey, confused, said softly “Okay. I’m sorry.”

Grayson – who was in the living room, separated from Massey in the kitchen by a counter and substantial distance, yelled “Drop the fucking pot! Drop the fucking pot!” even though she had already placed the pot in the kitchen sink

Massey, terrified, ducked behind the counter. Grayson approached the counter and stepped to the right so he had line of sight on Massey, and immediately fired three times at the unarmed, complying woman.

True to his threat he’d shot her in the face, just below the left eye. The bullet exited out through the back of her neck. Despite the severity of the head shot it wasn’t immediately fatal.

in this photo the distance between Massey and Grayson is apparent. In his report, and later in his application for early release from prison, he claimed she attacked him with the pot of water he had told her to take off of the stove.

For at least six minutes, Dawson Farley – the other deputy who was with Grayson that night, the one whose bodycam footage shows what happened – said he was going to get his med kit. Grayson argued with him, proudly stating “No, it was a headshot, dude, she’s done. You can go get it, but that’s a headshot.”

Farley retorted “we can at least try and hold the — stop the blood.” He remained in the house and applied pressure to the wound while waiting for medics to arrive.

A minute later Grayson observed Massey was “still breathing but she’s losing a lot of blood.” Then Grayson – who had told Farley not to bother getting his med kit – announced he was going to go get his own.

Farley held Massey’s head and used a kitchen towel to apply pressure to her wound. As minutes went by he muttered “C’mon. Where’s he at? C’mon.” as he waited for Grayson to return with the promised med kit.

A third officer entered the house; Farley reported that Massey was “still gasping” for air, and asked that third officer to hand him another kitchen towel to stanch the bleeding while they waited for an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Grayson’s bodycam footage shows that, instead of going to get his med kit, he walked around outside the house and then eventually went back inside, but he did not provide aid to Massey.

When other officers arrived, he claimed that Massey “came at [him] with boiling water,” and he told the officers “this fucking bitch is crazy.”

Sonya Massey was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, where she was pronounced dead. According to Massey’s family one of her ancestors, William Donnegan, was lynched in the Springfield race riot of 1908 and pronounced dead in the same hospital as Massey. The 1908 riot led to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson not justified in his use of deadly force. He was later fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on July 17, the same day charges were filed against him. The office wrote “It is clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.”

The ISP Report prepared by a Master Sergeant in the Illinois Division of Criminal Investigations who is “a Subject Matter Expert regarding Use of Force Incident Review” noted that, at the time Grayson pointed his gun at Massey and began approaching her, Massey had not made “any aggressive movements toward either Deputy.”

And “[d]ue to Mrs. Massey not aggressively approaching [Grayson] with the pot of liquid or making any aggressive movements,” the report found that “the necessity of force [by Grayson] was not imminent.”

The report explained that Grayson’s claimed’s “fear of great bodily harm could have been resolved by not approaching Mrs. Massey and coming within throwing distance of the liquid.”

Grayson “did not attempt to slow the situation down while Mrs. Massey was standing close to the pot of liquid in an attempt to de-escalate the situation” and “did not give Mrs. Massey any further commands after she let go of the pot and crouched below” the kitchen counter.

Instead, Grayson “escalated” the situation “and advanced in the direction of” Massey.

The report likened these circumstances to an officer intentionally and unnecessarily putting himself in front of a moving car and then attempting to justify his use of force against the driver because he feared being hit by the car.

Even if Grayson did somehow fear Massey was going to throw water at him, he could have used his tazer. At a circuit court hearing to determine whether Grayson should be released pending trial the court found Grayson posed a danger to the community.

At trial, after the jury deliberated for 11 hours, On October 29, Grayson was found guilty of 2nd degree murder and was given the maximum sentence of 20 years.

He filed for early release from prison in May 2026, six months into his sentence, according to a copy of his application published by Capitol News Illinois.

Sean Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before murdering Sonya Massey, and his attorney claimed in January that the cancer had spread to his liver and lungs.

At his January sentencing Grayson apologized for Massey’s death, but in the release application he repeated the lie of self defence that had been debunked at trial, writing Massey had “attacked me with a pot of boiling water.”

The three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board saw through his bullshit; they voted unanimously on Friday to deny Grayson’s application for early medical release.

Daniel Fultz, an attorney who represented Grayson, declined to comment.

In a letter to the board opposing Grayson’s release, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said the former deputy’s medical condition was already considered at sentencing.

“To release Grayson under these circumstances would be a miscarriage of justice,” he wrote, “and an insult to Sonya Massey’s memory and family.”