White former downstate cop gets 20-year sentence for murdering Sonya Massey

A white former sheriff’s deputy convicted of murdering an unarmed Black woman in her Springfield area home was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison, marking a capstone in a racially charged case of police brutality that drew national headlines.

A jury in October found Sean Grayson, 31, guilty of second-degree murder for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, 36, in the face in July 2024. The mother of two had called the police to report a potential prowler outside her house.

That was a lesser charge than the first-degree murder conviction Sangamon County prosecutors were originally seeking.

Massey’s friends and family members — many of them wearing Sonya’s favorite color, purple — sat tightly packed in six rows of benches inside the Springfield courtroom. They erupted into cheers when Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin imposed the maximum sentence on Grayson.

Ahead of the sentencing, Massey's family testified about the impact of Massey's death. They lashed out at Grayson, calling him a “liar” and “killer,” and told the judge about the pain they have endured since her murder.

Summer Massey, the slain woman's 16-year-old daughter, said it’s been exhausting having to justify and explain her mother’s innocence. And Massey’s 19-year-old son, Malachi Hill, told the judge he sometimes wakes up in the morning “thinking she’s still here.”

“I didn't know a body could produce so many tears,” Donna Massey, Sonya's mother, told Cadagin during testimony Thursday. “All we ask for is justice, for once. I’m begging you.”

Donna Massey tearfully told the judge she is now afraid to call the police, out of fear that she will end up like her daughter.

Before stepping down from the stand, Donna Massey looked squarely at Grayson and told him that she rebukes him “in the name of Jesus,” invoking some of Sonya Massey’s last words to Grayson before she was killed.

Wearing a gray and white-striped jumpsuit, Grayson bowed his head.

Afterwards, Grayson made his own statement to the judge and asked Massey’s family for forgiveness.

Fighting back tears, Grayson said he made “many mistakes that night” and wishes he could bring Massey back.

“She didn’t deserve to be yelled at, cursed at, called names,” Grayson said.

Grayson's lawyer, Mark Wykoff, asked the judge for a six-year sentence, citing his client's diagnoses of advanced cancer in his colon, rectum, lungs and liver. On Thursday, Grayson appeared to be showing visible signs of weight loss since his last public appearance when he was convicted last October.

Cadagin, however, did not give the former officer leniency, instead, choosing the maximum sentence allowable under state law for second-degree murder. Grayson faced between four and 20 years in prison for his conviction.

The judge said Grayson displayed an “outburst of rage that night” in contrast to the kind manner in Massey spoke, telling officers, 'thank y'all" and "love y'all."

"You said you were going to shoot her in the face, and then you did," Cadagin said.

Massey’s final moments were caught on police body-worn cameras, drawing national outrage in yet another case of police brutality against a Black person.

In the harrowing video footage, Grayson can be heard telling Massey to remove a pot of boiling water from her stove top. The situation quickly escalated when Grayson draws his weapon and yelled at Massey to “drop the f***ing pot,” before shooting at her three times as she ducked behind her kitchen counter.

Grayson, who within days was fired from his post, testified during his murder trial that he believed Massey was about to throw the pot of hot water at him.

The Massey family had reached a $10 million wrongful death settlement last year with Sangamon County. Her family members have also pushed hard for reforms, including rallying behind a law pushed by state Sen. Doris Turner, a Springfield Democrat, creating stricter background checks for police hires across the state.

Massey’s father, James Wilburn, said he wants that state law to become federal, and for Grayson to be tried in federal court for violating Massey’s civil rights.

“Thank you, Illinois,” Wilburn said. “No other family has to go through the pain that we have gone through.”