Recording shows deputy who killed Sonya Massey was admonished for inaccurate traffic stop report at previous job

(CNN) — Newly released audio recordings show the former Sangamon County, Illinois, sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey was previously reprimanded at another agency for filing an inaccurate report about a traffic stop and pursuit.

During the November 9, 2022, review, Sean Grayson was pressed about the particulars of the chase by Logan County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Nathan Miller, who told Grayson his report could have amounted to “official misconduct” and constituted several policy violations.

Grayson said he believed he was on a different street that he referenced in his report.

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

“Others will say you have no integrity, and you’re lying to get to that traffic stop,” Miller said at another point. “And I have told you that I have zero tolerance for stretching the law. Because when you have officers that stretch the law, they will get caught, they will get prosecuted.”

“I’m getting goosebumps. This is extremely concerning,” the chief deputy said a few minutes later. “Everybody likes you. I gotta be able to trust you. Was this a purposefully done lie?”

“No,” Grayson responded.

Records show Grayson worked at six law enforcement agencies in four years and was charged with driving under the influence twice. He resigned from Logan County in April 2023, state records show.

The conversation appears to coincide with an internal review detailed in Grayson’s Logan County Sheriff’s Office disciplinary records previously obtained by CNN. Those records indicate Grayson was on patrol early in the morning on September 12, 2022, in Lincoln, Illinois, when he began pursuing a maroon truck, believing a woman in the driver’s seat was acting suspicious.

Grayson “pursued the truck through Lincoln at a high rate of speed,” Miller writes in a description of the incident. Grayson’s supervisor eventually terminated the pursuit via radio communications, the documents state, but Grayson continued to travel at a high speed before hitting a deer.

The disciplinary records – which also reference a November 9, 2022, interview with Miller – indicate the sheriff’s office recommended Grayson needed “report writing training, high stress decision making classes, and needs to read, understand and discuss issued Logan County Sheriff’s Office Policy.”

Grayson, who was a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy before being fired following Massey’s death, responded to a report of a prowler at the woman’s home on July 6. Bodycam footage from another deputy showed Massey saying she rebuked Grayson, who responded by threatening the 36-year-old. The footage showed Grayson shooting Massey and failing to render aid.

An attorney for Grayson declined to comment Tuesday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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