Cop sentenced to 20 years for fatally shooting Sonya Massey after she called 911 for help
Cop gets max prison sentence for shooting dead woman who called 911 for help
- Former Illinois deputy Sean Grayson has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who had called 911 for help.
- Grayson, who is white, received the maximum sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder in October, a lesser charge than the initial first-degree murder counts.
- Massey, who struggled with mental health issues, called emergency services in July 2024 about a suspected prowler outside her Springfield home.
- Body camera footage showed an escalation where Grayson shot Massey in the face inside her own home after she appeared to pick up a pot of hot water, with Grayson testifying he feared being scalded.
- The case led to a $10 million settlement for Massey's family, a US Justice Department inquiry resulting in de-escalation training and data collection, and a change in Illinois law regarding transparency in law enforcement hiring.
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