Sonya Massey
The family of Sonya Massey will receive a $10 million settlement from Sangamon County, Illinois, less than a year after the unarmed Black woman was fatally shot in her home by a sheriff’s deputy.
According to a resolution posted by the Sangamon County Board, the agreement was reached last week after mediation between lawyers representing both parties. At its February 11 meeting, the Board unanimously approved the $10 million settlement.
The settlement comes as a lawmaker in Springfield introduces a new bill that would require law enforcement agencies to conduct a more comprehensive review of a prospective officer’s past employment to ensure that the candidate is physically and psychologically fit for duty.
Massey, a 36-year-old mother of two, was killed July 6 after two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies responded to her 911 call about a possible prowler at her home.
Massey was shot by former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, who is currently on trial for murder. Grayson was captured on police body camera video shooting Massey after she obeyed his command to put down a pot of boiling water in her kitchen.
Grayson later said he felt threatened by Massey.
He was fired from the sheriff’s office and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and official misconduct in Massey’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in jail but is fighting in court to be released from custody while he awaits trial.
Massey’s family has said she struggled with mental health issues, and dispatch records showed the sheriff’s department had been told she was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Massey’s death has renewed calls for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would establish a national database for tracking officers’ disciplinary issues or criminal offenses. Grayson’s issues with the law and the military, as well as his work in policing, spanned six agencies in four years.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice reached a deal with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in response to an inquiry into violations of federal anti-discrimination law in Massey’s shooting death. The deal would require more officers to get more training and develop use-of-force data reporting so that policing activities would be carried out in a “nondiscriminatory manner.”
This week, State Senator Doris Turner, D-Springfield, introduced Senate Bill 1953 in response to Massey’s death. If passed, law enforcement agencies would be required to conduct a more comprehensive review of a prospective officer’s past employment to ensure the candidate is physically and psychologically fit for duty.
Grayson was hired in 2023 despite his criminal history, which included two DUI convictions before he became a police officer. He left the U.S. Army, which listed “misconduct (serious offense)” as the reason for leaving.
According to an investigation led by the Invisible Institute, records from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, where Grayson worked for 11 months before moving to Sangamon County, show that department officials concluded that Grayson ignored internal policies during a high-speed chase.
Documents also show that Grayson received at least two formal complaints about his behavior and was told he was considered for termination.
Before he fatally shot Massey, Grayson served as a police officer in Kincaid, Illinois, where he served a bogus warrant to a man he pulled a man over for no reason. The case was thrown out after floating in the courts for two years. Body camera footage shows Grayson admitting to the chief of police he had no evidence to recommend charges. Still, even after the footage surfaced in court, no other department or agency was notified.
The proposed legislation in the Illinois Assembly would also create Sheriff’s Merit Boards and Commissions for counties with a population of at least 75,000.
