Sonya Massey
Former Deputy Guilty of Murder …
Shot Woman Who Called 911
Published October 29, 2025 1:42 PM PDT
Sonya Massey‘s killer has officially been found guilty of her murder … a little more than a year after he shot and killed her.
Sean Grayson — a former sheriff’s deputy in Illinois — was just found guilty of second-degree murder after a trial that lasted a little more than a week. The jury began deliberations Tuesday morning and returned the verdict Wednesday afternoon.
Remember … Grayson was arrested in July 2024 after he killed Massey, who had called 911 in the first place about a possible prowler. Horrific body cam footage came out in the aftermath of the shooting … which showed the conversation take a deadly turn after Massey turned off a burner on her stove and brought a pot of boiling water over to the sink.
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7/6/24
With another deputy looking on, Grayson loses his cool and tells her repeatedly to drop the pot … before stepping around the counter and shooting her. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office later fired Grayson — who claimed he feared Massey meant to throw the boiling water at him.
Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump — who represented Sonya’s family — told us he and Sonya’s father, James Wilburn, weren’t buying Grayson’s excuse after the body cam footage was released. The family has since secured a $10 million civil settlement connected to her death.
