A newly released video shows former Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson predicting he will be released from jail and telling deputies he is being held for his own safety.
“That’s what the state’s attorney agreed to. That’s what the state’s attorney held against me. They said it was for my own safety to take me into custody, so… so here I am,” Grayson can be heard telling deputies in the video obtained by NBC 5 Investigates.
Grayson is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the July 6 shooting of Sonya Massey.
He pleaded not guilty.
Body camera video taken at the scene shows Grayson and another deputy going to Massey’s home to search for a suspected prowler.
But once inside, the interactions changed. Grayson pulled out his gun and fired three times after Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson noted in his field report released earlier this week that he fired because he feared his life was in danger as Massey held a pot of boiling water.
He wrote that Massey held a pot of boiling liquid over his head and threw it at him. It’s hard to see what happened as Massey hid behind the kitchen counter. There’s also no audio from Grayson’s body camera because he started recording after the shooting and is standing in front of another deputy whose body camera was activated.
Springfield authorities have released body camera video showing the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home.
Two days before the shooting, response records show that Springfield police and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office responded to Massey’s mother’s home and her mother’s home for mental health concerns. Her mother urged a dispatcher not to send officers who could harm her daughter, saying she had suffered a mental breakdown.
It is unclear what information was shared with Grayson and his fellow deputy.
The case drew national attention, raised questions about Grayson’s judgment and hiring, and renewed attention to law enforcement’s use of deadly force. In firing him, Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said his agency had failed Massey and that circumstances were right for Grayson to de-escalate the situation.
The new jail booking video, obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through a Freedom of Information Act request, was recorded on July 17 while Grayson was booked into the Menard County Jail, a day before his first court appearance on charges related to the fatal shooting.
Nearly 90 minutes into the video, Grayson is speaking with a Menard County deputy about the jail’s low inmate population — which currently stands at just five inmates — when he says:
“Well, all this SAFE-T bullshit…that’s why I hope I’m out tomorrow,” referring to his first court appearance on July 18.
Grayson remained in custody.
According to a transcript of his July 18 appearance, a judge wrote that Grayson’s comments about Massey after the shooting and the lack of help provided “are so far outside societal norms that they suggest no condition would be sufficient. Simply being removed from police service, being confined to his home, being electronically monitored or any of the other conditions often used cannot adequately mitigate the threat posed by someone who has acted in this manner.”
But Grayson is due back in court on Friday and his lawyers are expected to argue for him to be released and placed on electronic monitoring.
In a motion filed with the court, his attorneys said the Menard County Jail was unable to meet Grayson’s medical needs, including his colon cancer.
During the jail booking video, deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office and the Menard County Sheriff’s Office can be heard discussing how to temporarily keep Grayson’s name off the county jail website for what NBC 5 Investigates said were initial security concerns.
Before the Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies left the jail, one of them told Grayson, “All right, Sean, these guys will take care of you.”
Later, two Menard County deputies can be heard telling Grayson, “You’re free to ask if you need anything, we’ll help you get it.”
In response to questions from NBC 5 Investigates, the Menard County Sheriff’s Office denied that Grayson received preferential treatment.
“Mr. Grayson does not receive any special treatment or privileges that other inmates at the Menard County Jail enjoy,” Deputy Chief Ben Hollis wrote in an email to NBC 5 Investigates.
Grayson’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
