Capitol Brief: Grayson’s behavior in Logan County led superior to ask, ‘How are you still employed with us?'
Sean Grayson is pictured in a booking photo. The former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy is charged with first-degree murder and accused of shooting Sonya Massey to death in her kitchen. He has pleaded not guilty. (Source: Sangamon County Sheriff's Department)
Records show deputy who shot Sonya Massey disobeyed orders during high-speed chase
By BETH HUNDSDORFER
Capitol News Illinois
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
Before former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson was accused of shooting Sonya Massey after she called police to investigate a prowler, he had a rocky, one-year tenure with the Logan County Sheriff’s Department.
Personnel records show that Grayson’s time there was fraught, though he was not fired by the department. Grayson’s file from Logan County shows he continued a high-speed pursuit of a traffic offender even after his supervisor ordered him to terminate it, a woman filed a complaint claiming Grayson tried to watch as she was strip searched, and her fiancé, who was in Logan County jail, claimed Grayson questioned him in front of other inmates as retaliation for his girlfriend’s complaint.
Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller wrote in a November 2022 report that Grayson needed “extensive” training after failing to listen to his superiors. He wrote Grayson needed field training, along with “additional traffic stop training, report writing training, high-stress decision making process classes, and needs to read, discuss and understand issued Logan County Sheriff’s Department policies.”
“Seven months on. How are you still employed by us?” Miller asked Grayson during a recorded meeting to discuss Grayson’s actions.
“I don’t know,” Grayson responded.
Read the full story and access a three-part video and audio interview at capitiolnewsillinois.com.
Beth Hundsdorfer
Beth has worked in journalism for 25 years starting out as an intern at KMOX radio. In 2023, Beth won her second Robert F. Kennedy journalism award with her reporting partner, Molly Parker, who joined the CNI team earlier this year for their reporting on abuse at the state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna.
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