By John O’Connor
A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Jan. 29 to twenty years in jail for fatally capturing Sonya Massey, a Black lady who had dialed 911 to report a potential prowler outdoors her Springfield residence.
Sean Grayson, who’s White, was convicted in October of second-degree homicide in a police brutality case that prompted protests over systemic racism and led to a U.S. Division of Justice inquiry. Grayson, 31, testified at trial that he feared Massey was about to scald him with a pot of steaming sizzling water that she had faraway from the range.
Grayson, who has been incarcerated since he was charged, obtained the utmost potential sentence.
He apologized in courtroom, saying he wished he might convey Massey again and spare her household the ache he prompted. His lawyer sought a sentence of six years, noting that Grayson has late stage colon most cancers that has unfold to his liver and lungs.
“I made lots of errors that night time. There have been factors once I ought to’ve acted, and I didn’t. I froze,” Grayson mentioned. “I made horrible selections that night time. I’m sorry.”
‘It rocked the nation’
Massey’s mother and father and two teenage youngsters, who lobbied for the utmost sentence, mentioned their lives had modified dramatically since her demise. Her youngsters mentioned they needed to develop up with no mom, whereas Massey’s mom mentioned she lived in concern.
“I cry day-after-day,” Massey’s mom, Donna Massey, mentioned.
“I’m afraid to name the police in concern that I’d find yourself like Sonya,” she informed the courtroom.
State’s Lawyer John Milhiser argued that Massey would nonetheless be alive if another person from the sheriff’s division had responded to her 911 name.
“Sonya Massey’s demise rocked her household, but it surely rocked the neighborhood, it rocked the nation,” State’s Lawyer John Milhiser mentioned. “We have now to do no matter we will to make sure it by no means occurs once more.”
The household reacted with a loud cheer — “Sure!” — after Choose Ryan Cadigan learn the sentence. He admonished them for the outburst.
“Twenty years shouldn’t be sufficient, however they did what they may do,” Massey’s 16-year-old daughter Summer season informed reporters after the listening to.
With a day shaved off his sentence for day-after-day of excellent habits, plus credit score for practically 19 months already spent behind bars, Grayson may very well be launched in slightly below 8 1/2 years.
The day of the capturing
Within the early morning hours of July 6, 2024, Massey — a 36-year-old single mom who struggled with psychological well being points — summoned emergency responders as a result of she feared there was a prowler outdoors her Springfield residence.
In line with physique digicam footage, Grayson and sheriff’s Deputy Dawson Farley, who was not charged, searched outdoors Massey’s residence earlier than assembly her at her door. Massey appeared confused and repeatedly mentioned, “Please, God.”
The deputies entered her home, Grayson observed the pot on the range and ordered Farley to maneuver it. As a substitute, Massey went to the range, retrieved the pot and teased Grayson for shifting away from “the recent, steaming water.”
From this second, the change rapidly escalated.
Massey mentioned: “I rebuke you within the title of Jesus.”
Grayson drew his sidearm and yelled at her to drop the pan. She set the pot down and ducked behind a counter. However she appeared to choose it up once more.
That’s when Grayson opened fireplace, capturing Massey within the face.
Convicted of downgraded costs at trial
Grayson was charged with three counts of first-degree homicide, which might have led to a life sentence, however a jury convicted him of the lesser cost. Illinois permits for a second-degree homicide conviction if proof reveals the defendant actually thought he was in peril, even when that concern was unreasonable.
Massey’s household was outraged by the decision.
“The justice system did precisely what it’s designed to do immediately. It’s not meant for us,” her cousin Sontae Massey mentioned after the decision.
On Thursday, the identical cousin mentioned he was “grateful.” He mentioned there may be “a protracted strategy to go” to get rid of the atmosphere that “perpetuated, created this example. We have now to work on these outdated legal guidelines. We have now to get them off the books.”
Grayson informed the courtroom he understood the Massey household’s anger and begged for his or her forgiveness whereas acknowledging that wouldn’t come “any time quickly.”
James Wilburn, who ended his assertion to the courtroom by quoting his daughter — “Sean Grayson, I rebuke you within the title of Jesus” — mentioned later Thursday he understands the worth of forgiveness, however that he can’t reconcile Grayson’s apology along with his declare at trial that his daughter was the aggressor.
After the capturing
Massey’s killing raised new questions on U.S. regulation enforcement shootings of Black individuals of their houses. Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump negotiated a $10 million settlement with Sangamon County for Massey’s kin.
The case additionally generated a U.S. Justice Division inquiry that was settled when the county agreed to implement extra de-escalation coaching and acquire extra use-of-force information. The sheriff who employed Grayson was compelled to retire and the case prompted a change in Illinois regulation requiring fuller transparency on the backgrounds of candidates for regulation enforcement jobs. Wilburn mentioned that regulation must be applied on the federal stage.
This text was initially revealed by The Related Press.
