Sean Grayson, former Illinois deputy convicted of killing Sonya Massey, dies in prison, lawyer says

CHICAGO (AP) – Sean Grayson, a former Illinois sheriff's deputy whose fatal shooting of Sonya Massey inside her home became a flashpoint over police employ of force, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Key points

• Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter indicated Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.
• Grayson's attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed that his client died earlier Sunday but declined to provide any further details.
• Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey's killing, and his attorneys remarked at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs.
• He was sentenced in January to the maximum 20 years in prison.

Grayson, 32, was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the fatal shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who had documented a feasible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Body camera video of the July 2024 encounter indicated Massey crouching in her kitchen and apologizing moments before Grayson shot her in the face.

Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey's killing, and his attorneys remarked at his sentencing that the disease had spread to his liver and lungs. In May, only months into his sentence, he sought medical release under an Illinois law for prisoners with terminal illnesses or serious medical conditions. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board denied his request last month.

Taken together, the developments around sean Grayson, former Illinois deputy convicted of killing Sonya Massey, dies in point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.