The white Illinois cop who shot a 36-year-old black woman dead inside of her kitchen after she called the police to report a prowler in the area was described as a ‘bully’ when he worked at a different department.
More allegations are coming to light against Sean Grayson, 30, in the wake of the horrific shooting of mother-of-two Sonya Massey which took place in the city of Springfield on July 6.
CBS News spoke to Grayson’s former boss, Girard Police Chief Wayman Meredith, about an issue that occurred in March 2023 which involved a woman who was outside of the cop’s mother’s home.
‘He was acting like a bully. He was wanting me to do stuff that was not kosher,’ Meredith said, adding that Grayson was ‘steaming mad’ and had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
In a separate incident, an official at the Logan County Sheriff’s Department, another of Grayson’s former employers, called him out for ‘lack of integrity, for lying in his reports, and for what he calls official misconduct,’ reports CBS News.
This isn’t Grayson’s first go with misconduct while on the job. His discharge from the Army was listed under ‘misconduct (serious offense).’ Grayson has also hopped around various police forces, working for six agencies in four years
Sonya Massey, 36, was a loving mother-of-two who had suffered with mental health issues
‘The sheriff and I will not tolerate lying or deception,’ an officer tells him in a recording heard by the network. The officer then warns him that ‘officers [like you] end up in jail.’
Grayson was then accused of ‘abusing his power’ by ‘harassing’ two people during a traffic stop. The pair filed a complaint against the officer, accusing him of, among other things, not respecting the woman’s privacy.
The woman was asked to remove a bag of drugs she had inside of her body in front of Grayson and another officer. She was later taken to a nearby hospital to have the drugs taken out.
Despite denials, the woman maintained that Grayson ‘barged’ into the examination room in the clinic when the bag was being taken out. The complaint was not held up and Grayson departed from Logan County in ‘good standing.’
It was shortly after that incident that he began working at the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.
It was previously reported that Grayson needed to attend a ‘high-stress decision making class.’
Grayson received that recommendation while working in Logan County after he failed to slow down during a vehicle pursuit that was called off.
‘Deputy Grayson pursued the truck through Lincoln at a high rate of speed, reaching speeds of 63/30 MPH zones, and in my opinion, failed to show due caution while driving through stop intersections,’ the chief deputy wrote at the time.
Massey was shot at three times by Grayson earlier this month after she called police to report a prowler. She had a pot of water boiling on the stove when he arrived, which Grayson asked her to shut off and threatened to shoot her
The report noted that Grayson’s supervisor ‘terminated the pursuit,’ and Grayson turned off his emergency lights.
He then ‘continued at a high rate of speed (110/55mph zone) prior to striking the deer.’
‘Deputy Grayson acknowledged he lacks experience,’ the report said.
It would go on to list a series of recommendations, including ‘additional traffic stop training, report writing training, high-stress decision making classes and needs to read, understand and discuss issued Logan County Sheriff’s Office Policy.’
It is unclear whether Grayson ever followed through with those recommendations.
His discharge from the Army was listed under ‘misconduct (serious offense),’ according to documents obtained by ABC News.
The Army declined to release further information regarding Grayson’s discharge, citing the Privacy Act and Department of Defense policy that prevents the release of information regarding conduct of low-level employees.
Grayson worked as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic for the Army between May 2014 to February 2016 and he left with a rank of private first class, a spokesperson told ABC News.
At a press conference, Massey’s son, Malachi, told the audience that he could not bring himself to watch the bodycam footage which showed his mother’s death
‘A good mother. She was very smart and always helped everybody but herself. Just a ball of love, honestly, to me,’ Malachi spoke lovingly about his mother, pictured above
Malaci Hill-Massey, 17, and Sonya Massey’s mother, Donna, sat down for an interview with CBS News in which they described the trauma they have experienced in the wake of the shooting
During his time in the military, he was charged with a DUI offense in Illinois in August 2015 and another shortly after his discharge in July 2016 in the same county, ABC News reported.
Autopsy findings released Friday on Massey confirmed that she died from a gunshot wound to the head that she died on July 6.
The report was released shortly before civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Massey’s family, denounced the killing by the ex-sheriff’s deputy as senseless, unnecessary and excessive.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon had previously disclosed initial findings on Massey’s July 6 death in Springfield and the full autopsy report released Friday confirmed those conclusions, including that her death was a homicide.
In addition to the bullet striking her just beneath her left eye, Massey had ‘minor blunt force injuries’ to her right leg, the autopsy said.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct charges in Massey’s killing. He was fired last week by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and has been jailed without bond.
Crump, at his third news conference this week since the body camera video was released Monday, used an enlarged diagram from the autopsy that showed the bullet exited on her lower neck in a downward trajectory.
That, he said, emphasizes the physical mismatch between Massey and the much larger Grayson, who fired on her because he said he felt threatened by a pan of hot water she was moving from her stove.
Attorney Ben Crump is seen at at a press conference highlighting the circumstances surrounding Massey’s death
The shooting has sparked more protests against police brutality in the US
Autopsy findings released Friday on Massey confirmed that she died from a gunshot wound to the head that she died on July 6
‘When Sonya Massey was staring at the barrel of his gun, she stooped down, said, ‘Sorry, sir, Sorry,’ and the bullet was shot while she was in this stooped position, coming up,’ Crump said.
‘The autopsy confirms what everybody already knows, that this was just a senseless, unnecessary, excessive use of force.’
Grayson is 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds. The autopsy lists Massey at 5-foot-4 and 112 pounds. Prosecutors have added that the distance between shooter and victim and a counter between them gave Grayson ‘distance and relative cover’ from the hot water.
Authorities said Massey had called 911 to report a suspected prowler. Two deputies eventually showed up at her house about 200 miles southwest of Chicago.
The video confirmed prosecutors’ earlier account of the tense moment when Grayson yelled across a counter at Massey to set down a pot of hot water, aiming his 9mm pistol at her and threatening to shoot her in the face. He fired three times.
The unidentified deputy with Grayson then said he would get his medical kit, but Grayson said, ‘She done. You can go get it, but that’s a head shot. There’s nothing you can do, man.’
He later relented while the second deputy held towels to Massey’s head to try to stem the bleeding, but by the time Grayson returned with his kit, emergency medical professionals had arrived and when they told Grayson his help wasn’t needed, he threw his kit on the floor and said, ‘I’m not even gonna waste my med stuff then.’
Massey struggled with mental illness, according to her family.
Her son, 17-year-old Malachi Hill Massey, said Friday that he and his 15-year-old sister had moved in with their fathers because Sonya Massey had admitted herself to a 30-day inpatient program in St. Louis sometime during the week before her death, but returned two days later without explanation.
Malachi Massey also said that on July 5, the day before the early morning shooting, law enforcement officers whom he thought were from Sangamon County were called to the house and were there when he arrived.
By then, his mother had called him to say she was driving herself to a local hospital, apparently for mental health treatment. He said he doesn’t know who called police or what help she was seeking that day.
