SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy serving a 20-year prison sentence for the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, died Sunday, Aug. 23, according to his attorney. He was 32.
Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, confirmed his death to NPR Illinois. As of Sunday evening, authorities had not publicly confirmed an official cause or location of death.
Grayson had been battling advanced cancer. Reports leading up to his death said the cancer had progressed to Stage 4 and spread to his liver and lungs. His declining health became the focus of a highly publicized attempt to secure an early medical release from prison this summer.
His death comes just weeks after the Illinois Prisoner Review Board unanimously rejected that request.
Convicted in the Killing of Sonya Massey
Grayson became the focus of national attention following the July 6, 2024, killing of 36-year-old Sonya Massey.
Massey, a Black woman living near Springfield, had called 911 to report what she believed could be a prowler outside her home. Grayson and another Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy responded.
The encounter eventually moved into Massey’s kitchen, where deputies instructed her to remove a pot of hot water from the stove. Body-camera footage captured an exchange between Massey and Grayson before Grayson drew his firearm and shot her. Massey was unarmed.
Her killing sparked protests across the country and renewed scrutiny of police hiring, training and the handling of people experiencing mental-health crises.
Grayson was fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office following the shooting and initially charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
In October 2025, a jury convicted him of the lesser offense of second-degree murder.
In January, a judge sentenced Grayson to the maximum 20 years in prison. Massey’s daughter, Summer Massey, said after sentencing that she was grateful the maximum punishment had been imposed.
Cancer Diagnosis Led to Request for Release
Only months into his sentence, Grayson sought permission to leave prison because of his deteriorating health.
He filed for medical release under Illinois’ Joe Coleman Act, which allows certain incarcerated people with terminal illnesses or severe medical incapacitation to seek early release. Grayson had been diagnosed with cancer before the shooting of Massey, and by 2026 his disease had advanced significantly.
The request immediately drew opposition from Massey’s family and prosecutors.
Grayson also continued to maintain in his application that Massey had attacked him with the pot of water, an account disputed during his prosecution. Capitol News Illinois reported that body-camera footage showed several feet and a kitchen island separating Massey and Grayson when he fired.
On July 31, the three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted unanimously to deny Grayson’s request for medical release. The decision meant he would remain incarcerated despite his advanced cancer.
Attorneys representing Massey’s family praised the decision at the time, saying it upheld the jury’s verdict and the sentence imposed by the court.
Grayson Dies Weeks After Board’s Decision
Less than a month later, Grayson was dead.
Fultz confirmed that Grayson died Sunday while serving his sentence. Initial reports did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding his death, and the Illinois Department of Corrections had not immediately provided additional information.
Although Grayson had been suffering from Stage 4 cancer, an official cause of death had not been publicly confirmed as of the initial reports Sunday.
His death closes one chapter of a case that became much larger than the prosecution of a single former deputy.
Massey’s killing led to widespread questions about how Grayson had been hired by multiple law enforcement agencies before joining the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and whether warning signs in his employment history should have prevented him from serving as a deputy.
For Massey’s family, however, the case has always centered on what happened inside her home: She called law enforcement because she believed she needed help, and one of the deputies who answered that call ultimately killed her.
Grayson was convicted, sentenced to the maximum prison term available for his second-degree murder conviction and remained incarcerated after his request for medical release was rejected.
He died approximately three weeks after that decision — and a little more than two years after Sonya Massey’s death.
