Sean Grayson Drove Drunk With Gun, Suspended License: Records

Sean Grayson, the former police officer charged in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, had an illegal firearm and drove on a suspended license during two past DUI arrests, according to records obtained by Newsweek.

Grayson, a 30-year-old white man and former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office deputy, shot and killed the 36-year-old Massey inside her Springfield, Illinois, home on July 6. The incident was caught on police body cameras and has sparked outrage since going public.

He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct related to Massey’s death. His next court date is currently scheduled for August 26.

Records provided to Newsweek via a Freedom of Information Act request detail two incidents of Grayson driving while intoxicated.

The first incident occurred on August 6, 2015, when the 6-foot-3 Grayson was 21 years old and driving around at 10:15 p.m. in Springfield, Illinois.

He caught the attention of a Virden Police Department officer who was driving on the opposite side of Route 4 and saw Grayson’s blue 2011 Ford pickup truck traveling with its high beams on while proceeding to strike a curb. As the officer was tailing Grayson, the suspect nearly hit the curb multiple other times. The vehicle was pulled over.

Grayson told the officer that he accidentally turned on his high beams, adding that he had one 12-ounce beer three hours earlier. He changed his story later, saying he may have had two beers two hours earlier—and possibly “as much as four.”

While speaking to Grayson, the officer “observed that his eyes were bloodshot and watery and I smelled an odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath.”

Grayson failed multiple tests, including one called the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus which checks eyesight. The officer wrote in his arrest report that “there was a lack of smooth pursuit” in Grayson’s bloodshot eyes. His body was also swaying, leading to a failed walking sobriety test.

The “one-leg stand” test was also unsuccessful, though Grayson reportedly told the officer that he passed “four” tests. Grayson, upon being told he could legally refuse a preliminary breath test, declined to take it. He was then arrested and placed in the squad car.

The officer found a loaded Taurus Millennium G2 40-caliber handgun in the center console, even though records showed Grayson did not possess a concealed carry license. Grayson told the officer he had a firearm because he was “from Kansas” and was in the military.

A second gun magazine and a box of 40-caliber ammunition were discovered in the glove box of the vehicle—the same location where the officer found a wooden box containing roughly 2.5 grams of marijuana, which belonged to the 20-year-old male passenger and friend of Grayson.

After being transported to Macoupin County Jail, Grayson ultimately blew .117—over two times the .08 legal limit.

The second DUI that occurred on July 23, 2016, involved the same Ford pickup and mimicked the first such arrest.

A Macoupin County sheriff in Girard, Illinois, observed Grayson’s truck make a wide turn and came into the officer’s driving lane. The officer followed Grayson and watched him cross over the middle lane into westbound lanes, nearly causing a “wreck” with a semi-tractor traveling in the opposite direction.

Upon being pulled over, Grayson and another male passenger instantly lit cigarettes. Grayson’s eyes were described as “glassy and bloodshot” when approached by the officer, and he displayed “slurred” speech after purportedly consuming three alcoholic beverages earlier in the evening.

The officer noted that the cigarette smoke masked any breath odor coming from Grayson, who reportedly had difficulty and slowness retrieving his driver’s license inside the vehicle.

The license came back suspended out of Kansas. Grayson was instructed to exit the vehicle.

“When Sean stepped out of the truck I observed him to lose his balance and he caught himself by leaning against his back driver’s side door,” the report states.

When instructed to walk towards the squad car, Grayson remained “unsteady on his feet” and held his own vehicle for balance.

Alcohol was then smelled on the breath of Grayson, who said that he had been drinking at a tavern. When asked to participate in field sobriety tests, Grayson reportedly said, “Not true.”

“I asked Sean what he meant,” the officer wrote. “He again stated, ‘Not true.’ I asked him if he was going to do field sobriety tests for me and he stated ‘no.'”

After arriving at the station, Grayson was instructed he had to wait 20 minutes prior to doing a breath test. Grayson reportedly became verbally aggressive, threatening the officer to “hurry up” and saying he “was going to pee in the trash can or pee his pants.”

Grayson also reportedly told the officer that he “was too small to be making him mad.” He ultimately refused to do the breath test and was detained in the jail.

On Tuesday, Daniel Fultz, the attorney representing Grayson in the Massey case, declined to comment to Newsweek about the past DUIs.

On July 26, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office led by Jack Campbell was asked about hiring Grayson following his two DUIs. They acknowledged the DUIs and said a merit commission reviewed Grayson’s records and approved his hiring.

“The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) reviewed the information, which included the DUI convictions,” the office said. “ILETSB certified Grayson for hire and advised that he had been certified several times in the past despite the history of the DUIs.”

Grayson reportedly passed a drug test, criminal background check and psychological evaluation and graduated from a 16-week training academy before serving as a deputy.

Grayson served at six different Illinois law enforcement agencies in a four-year period.

In August 2020, he began working with the Pawnee Police Department as a part-time officer. He later took on two other part-time roles, with the Kincaid Police Department on February 4, 2021, and the Virden Police Department on May 20, 2021.

On July 7, 2021, Grayson began working in a full-time role with the Auburn Police Department. On May 1, 2022, he took on a full-time role at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office before starting at Sangamon County in May 2023.

Prior to the first DUI, Grayson and his now ex-wife, Alexia Kay Pitchford, 29, separated in early May 2015. Previous documents obtained by Newsweek showed Grayson being cited over “extreme and repeated mental cruelty” without cause or provocation.

The Massey family, accompanied by attorney Ben Crump, National Action Network President and Founder Al Sharpton and others, was scheduled to hold a press conference on Tuesday evening followed by a “Remembering Sonya Massey” rally at New Mount Pilgrim Church in Chicago.