SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The terminated Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office deputy involved in the shooting death of a woman who called for 911 assistance worked at six different law enforcement agencies in the last four years, state records obtained by WGN’s Nexstar sister station show.
Since August of 2020, Sean Grayson worked less than one year at the Auburn (Ill.) Police Department, one year at the Logan County (Ill.) Sheriff’s Office, and then just over a year with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, the records obtained by WCIA show. He was also employed with police departments in Virden, Kincaid and Pawnee.
Grayson was arrested twice for Class A misdemeanor DUIs, once in 2015 and once in 2016.
“There was all these red flags, and yet they still made him a deputy in (Sangamon) County,” said James Wilburn, the father of Sonya Massey.
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Massey, 36, was killed in the early morning hours of July 6 after she’d called 911 to report a suspected prowler. In body-cam footage showing her final moments, Massey ducked and apologized to Grayson seconds before he shot the Black woman three times in her home, with one fatal blow to the head.
An Illinois grand jury indicted Grayson, 30, who is white, last week. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
Sonya Massey
Sean Grayson
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged to WCIA it knew about Grayson’s two DUIs when it hired him. The county conducts criminal background checks on all employees before hiring them. But the Sheriff’s Office told WCIA it was not aware of any complaints of excessive force during Grayson’s previous stints in law enforcement.
WCIA says it has multiple Freedom of Information Act requests out to Grayson’s previous employers for more information on his departures from previous jobs. According to WCIA, state records show he resigned and started new jobs shortly after leaving previous ones — sometimes the next day.
County officials told WCIA that to their knowledge, Grayson had not been fired from previous jobs.
Grayson was fired from his job last week and is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery, and two to five years for misconduct.