Illinois officer charged with killing Sonya Massey had history of ‘bullying’

As vigils for Sonya Massey take place across the US this weekend, a history of unethical and aggressive behavior by the officer who shot her, Sean P Grayson, is emerging. Grayson’s disciplinary file includes accusations of bullying behavior and abuse of power, according to CBS News .

Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and mother of two living outside Springfield, Illinois, had called 911 when she thought a prowler was lurking outside her home on 6 July. Grayson and another officer from the Sangamon county sheriff’s office were dispatched and arrived at her home. Instead of helping Massey with a possible intruder, Grayson shot her in the face after she moved a pot of water from her kitchen stove at their request .

Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to charges 0f first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s killing. He was fired last week by the Sangamon county sheriff’s office and has been jailed without bond.

Related: Sonya Massey killing: family accuse police of attempted cover-up

Captured on bodycam, Grayson can be heard yelling: “You better fucking not. I swear to God I will fucking shoot you right in your fucking face.” Both deputies screamed at Massey to drop the pot. Massey cowered behind the counter, saying “I’m sorry” twice before Grayson shot her three times.

The 26 July CBS report on Grayson’s disciplinary file included an audio recording of Grayson’s previous supervising officers saying, “The sheriff and I will not tolerate lying or deception,” to Grayson, and “officers [like you] have been charged and they end up in jail”.

The recordings date back to November 2022 and were released by the Logan county sheriff’s office, north-east of Sangamon county, where Grayson had worked from May 2022 to April 2023. The disciplinary file describes Grayson’s behavior as bullying and an abuse of power, specifically citing a lack of integrity, lying in his reports and misconduct.

Wayman Meredith, the police chief of Girard, Illinois, recalled, “He was acting like a bully,” over the phone to CBS about Grayson. Meredith spoke about an alleged incident last year, describing Grayson as “enraged” and pressuring him to call child protective services on a woman outside of the home of Grayson’s mother. “He was wanting me to do stuff that was not kosher,” Meredith added.

According to the CBS report, Grayson worked in six different law enforcement agencies in four years.

“Why did he even have a job as a sheriff’s deputy after those red flags?” said Ben Crump, the family’s lawyer, at a press conference.

On the same day the CBS report was aired, Kamala Harris called the Massey family to offer condolences, according to family members who spoke to NBC News.

Massey’s father, James Wilburn, told NBC News that the vice-president’s call “made me feel a lot better today”. He added that Harris “gave us her heartfelt condolences, and she let us know that she is with us 100%, that this senseless killing must stop”.

Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, issued a statement on 23 July following the release of the body-camera footage. “We have much work to do to ensure that our justice system fully lives up to its name,” she said.