Deputy charged in Sonya Massey's murder faced Army discharge, DUIs and scrutiny at another sheriff's office

The shooting death of Sonya Massey is the most recent incident in Sean Grayson’s law enforcement career to come under scrutiny.

It wasn’t the first.

NBC 5 Investigates has learned nearly two years before Massey was shot and killed in her Springfield home, Grayson was accused of violating several departmental policies while working as a sheriff’s deputy in Logan County.

Newly released records also show prior to his work in law enforcement, Grayson was discharged from the Army in February of 2016 for “serious misconduct.”

Court records show his discharge happened several months after the first of two DUI arrests – one of which involved a handgun in his vehicle, according to his own admission on a job application. In an email to Logan County, Grayson admitted he pleaded guilty to both charges but has “since matured and changed my life around.”

Despite the guilty pleas, police agencies across Illinois still gave Grayson a badge and gun time and again. He worked for six separate police agencies in Illinois since 2020.

He’s currently being held on charges including aggravated murder for the fatal shooting of Massey.

NBC 5 Investigates combed through hundreds of pages of employment records of Grayson and listened to hours’ worth of audio interviews and videos obtained through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.

Taken together, they paint a picture of a deputy whose actions were called into question years before he was employed at the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office – who terminated him after Massey’s death.

During an hours-long interrogation in November of 2022, Sean Grayson faced a litany of questions from his superior, Chief Deputy Nate Miller with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.

Among the topics of conversation was a September 2022 pursuit that Grayson engaged in after spotting a woman he believed to be suspicious sitting in a truck.

Dash camera video shows the truck is far ahead of Grayson’s cruiser at the time of the pursuit. And while he’s activated his lights and sirens, his supervisor tells him to end the pursuit if it’s only for a traffic violation.

But Grayson did not stop.

According to the video, Grayson radioed that he is going to follow her briefly and that if she doesn’t pull over,  “I’ll terminate.”

The chase ended in a crash when Grayson’s cruiser struck a deer. The report notes his speed reached 110 miles per hour at one point.

Two months after the pursuit, Miller questioned Grayson and accused him of violating several departmental policies – including those related to accurate reports and the sheriff’s pursuit policy.

Grayson admitted that his report about the events the preceded the chase contained inaccurate information and that he was on a different street than what was noted in his report.

Miller made it clear that Grayson’s “memory is failing him” and warned him that other officers who have lied or presented false information in their reports have faced criminal charges.

“If we can’t trust what you say and what you see – we can’t have you in our uniform,” Miller said.

Their conversation also involved an exchange where Chief Deputy Nate Miller asked: “Seven months on, how are you still employed by us?”

Grayson replied: “I don’t know.”

At the time of their interview in November 2022, Grayson had been placed on “light duty” as he was undergoing cancer treatment, according to the audio reviewed by NBC 5 Investigates.

Grayson resigned from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office in “good standing” in April 2023 before an internal investigation was completed.

His next job – deputy with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office.

Miller did not respond to questions from NBC 5 Investigates.

Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment.

Sean Grayson was indicted earlier this month and faces charges of aggravated murder for the shooting death of Sonya Massey – a Springfield mother who called authorities seeking help over a suspected prowler at her home.

In the body camera video from the night of the shooting, Grayson and another officer find no evidence of a prowler and wait several minutes for Massey to answer, during which time Grayson makes a comment that she’s dead inside and calls impatiently for her.

Massey, who had suffered mental health issues, appeared confused and said, “Don’t hurt me.” Grayson responded at times in a condescending or impatient manner.

“His conduct before, during and after suggests that this guy was a loose cannon, and that’s being polite,” said Kalfani Ture, a former police officer, now assistant professor of criminal justice at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania and an instructor in the New York Police Department’s academy.

Inside Massey’s home, video showed Grayson directing that a pan of water be removed from a flame on the stove. Massey appeared to set it near the sink. The two joke about Grayson moving away from her “hot, steaming water” and Massey inexplicably says, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

That prompted Grayson to pull his gun. Massey apologized and ducked behind a counter, but when Grayson yelled at her to drop the pot, she appeared to pick it up again. Grayson fired three shots, striking her in the face, and made no immediate effort to provide medical aid because “that’s a headshot.”

On Tuesday we learned the Fraternal Order of Police – which had filed a grievance on behalf of Grayson following his firing – has decided not to pursue it.

An attorney for the labor union did not answer NBC 5 Investigates’ questions about why that decision was made, but provided this statement:

“As a labor organization, the IL FOP Labor Council has an obligation to all our members to preserve the procedural due process rights contained in our collective bargaining agreements.  These rights include the right to avail the grievance process, and to do so, strict timelines must be met.   Therefore, grievances are filed as a matter of course. We as a Union, in turn, have internal processes in place to ensure these rights are preserved while at the same time proper evaluation of all grievances takes place.  These internal processes are applied to ALL our members; we do not play favorites or discriminate, regardless of the circumstances surrounding a grievance.  The same internal processes apply to all members who file grievances, including Sean Grayson. We have arrived at that final stage of the process where a determination can be made regarding whether or not to proceed with Sean Grayson’s grievance. The Union has determined that it will NOT be proceeding any further.

Our obligations under the collective bargaining agreement and to our members do not take away from the sympathy we feel for the family and loved ones of Sonya Massey.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them and with all those impacted by this tragedy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.