🚨 SEAN GRAYSON, EX-DEPUTY CONVICTED IN SONYA MASSEY’S KILLING, DIES IN PRISON AT 32

📍SPRINGFIELD, IL | 730 BOOM RADIO

Well...

This is one of those stories where Lady Red has plenty to say, but we're going to start with the facts, because at the center of all of this is a woman who should still be alive.

Former Sangamon County sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson died Sunday, August 23, while serving a 20-year prison sentence for the killing of Sonya Massey. He was 32 years old. Grayson's attorney confirmed his death.

Grayson had been battling advanced cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs. Although several reports describe his cancer differently, his legal filings cited advanced colon cancer. His exact cause of death has not yet been officially confirmed. 

And if that name Sonya Massey still makes your stomach turn, it should.

🕊️ SONYA CALLED THE POLICE FOR HELP

On July 6, 2024, 36-year-old Sonya Massey called 911 because she believed there might be a prowler outside her Springfield-area home.

Think about that.

SHE CALLED THEM.

She wasn't being chased by police.

She wasn't somebody they were looking for.

SHE CALLED 911 FOR HELP.

Grayson and another deputy responded.

Inside Massey's kitchen, the encounter turned deadly. Body-camera footage captured Grayson drawing his weapon during an exchange involving a pot of hot water. Massey apologized and ducked behind the counter before Grayson fired, killing her.

The other deputy later testified that he did not perceive Massey as a threat and said he became fearful of Grayson during the encounter.

Baby...

THAT PART STILL GETS ME.

The other officer standing right there didn't believe Sonya was a threat.

But somehow the woman who called YOU for protection ended up dead in her own kitchen.

⚖️ GRAYSON WAS CONVICTED

Prosecutors originally charged Grayson with first-degree murder, but a jury convicted him of the lesser offense of second-degree murder in October 2025.

He was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

The killing sparked outrage across Illinois and around the country, protests over police use of force, a federal civil-rights investigation and eventually new legislation aimed at improving law-enforcement hiring and background checks.

Sonya Massey's name became bigger than one criminal case.

It became another painful question:

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PERSON YOU CALL FOR HELP BECOMES THE PERSON YOU NEED HELP FROM?

🏥 THEN GRAYSON ASKED TO GET OUT OF PRISON

Earlier this year, Grayson sought medical release because of his advanced cancer.

His attorneys said the cancer had spread to his liver and lungs.

Sonya Massey's family opposed his release.

And here's where Lady Red's eyebrow went all the way up.

According to reporting on his application, Grayson continued to maintain that Massey had attacked him with the pot of hot water. 

Sir...

YOU'RE ASKING FOR COMPASSION WHILE STILL BLAMING THE WOMAN WHO IS DEAD?!

That's the part people had a problem with.

Not that a sick human being requested medical care.

Not that cancer is devastating.

But you were asking the state to look at your circumstances and show you mercy...

while Sonya Massey never got the opportunity to ask anybody for mercy after those shots were fired.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board unanimously denied his request in late July, leaving his 20-year sentence in place.

Three weeks later, Grayson was dead.

🔴 LADY RED SAYS...

This ain't a celebration.

I'm not doing a touchdown dance because somebody died.

Cancer is ugly. Death leaves families grieving, including Grayson's.

But I'm also not about to rewrite history because the man who killed Sonya Massey is now dead.

SONYA SHOULD BE HERE.

She should've gotten to close her front door that night.

She should've gotten to wake up the next morning.

She should've gotten birthdays.

Christmases.

Regular Tuesdays.

She should've gotten YEARS.

Instead, she called 911 because she was scared somebody might be outside her house...

AND THE DANGER CAME INSIDE WEARING A BADGE.

That's the tragedy.

Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Massey's family, made essentially that point after Grayson's death: his death doesn't bring Sonya back, and her family will continue grieving her loss. He also extended prayers for peace to Grayson's grieving family.

And THAT is where I'm going to leave it.

You don't have to celebrate Sean Grayson's death.

You don't have to wish suffering on his family.

BUT DON'T YOU DARE FORGET SONYA MASSEY.

Because this story didn't begin with Sean Grayson dying in prison.

It began with a 36-year-old woman calling 911 for help and never surviving the people who answered.

Say her name.

SONYA MASSEY. 🕊️

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