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Ex-Illinois deputy Sean Grayson dies after Massey conviction
By Aurax Desk | August 24, 2026 | 2 min read
Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, convicted of second-degree murder in the 2024 killing of Sonya Massey, died Sunday while serving a 20-year prison sentence. His death comes weeks after state officials rejected his request for medical release as he battled advanced cancer.
Body camera footage documented the encounter between Sean Grayson and Sonya Massey shortly before the fatal shooting.
Grayson, 32, died in custody, his attorney Daniel Fultz confirmed, but no further details about the circumstances or cause of death were immediately provided. Grayson had been diagnosed with colon cancer before Massey’s killing, and his attorneys said the disease had later spread to his liver and lungs; the Illinois Prisoner Review Board unanimously denied his request for early medical release in July.
Massey, 36, was killed July 6, 2024, after she called 911 to report a possible prowler outside her Springfield-area home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded, and body camera footage showed Grayson confronting Massey in her kitchen while she held a pot of hot water before he fired three shots, killing her. Grayson was fired and initially charged with first-degree murder, but a jury convicted him of the lesser offense of second-degree murder in October 2025, and he received the maximum 20-year sentence in January.
The shooting drew national attention and protests and prompted broader scrutiny of police use of force and law enforcement hiring practices. Illinois lawmakers subsequently enacted the Sonya Massey Act, requiring agencies to more closely examine applicants’ previous employment records, while the U.S. Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation that resulted in agreements requiring changes to policing and emergency-response practices in Sangamon County, including additional training for encounters involving people with behavioral health disabilities and development of a mobile crisis response program.
Sources: The Associated Press, FOX 32 Chicago, NBC News, Illinois State Police, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and statements from Grayson’s attorney and attorneys representing Sonya Massey’s family.