An Illinois sheriff whose former deputy Sonya Massey fatally shot Last month, at her Springfield home, she told CBS News Thursday that not only had the deputy received training, but he had specifically received additional training to learn how to avoid the use of unjustified deadly force.
“He was a dishonest individual who acted outside his authority,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said of his former deputy Sean Grayson. “He was arrested and he will pay the price.”
Campbell said that when he hired Grayson in May 2023, the new deputy received twice as much training as other recent hires. Campbell said he received on-the-job performance evaluations from law enforcement agencies where Grayson had previously worked that indicated he needed more training. Grayson has worked for six different law enforcement agencies in Illinois since 2020, including the Pawnee, Kincaid, Virden and Auburn police departments, as well as the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. He was also discharged from the Army in February 2016 after serving for about 19 months.
“He had all the training he needed,” Campbell said. “He just didn’t use it.”
Grayson is being held in the Menard County Jail after being charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the July 6 killing of Massey, a black mother of two. who was shot in the head by the deputy inside his home after calling 911 to report a suspected prowler.
Body camera video It showed Grayson, who is white, shooting Campbell in her kitchen as she held a pot of hot water.
Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, had also called 911 The day before the shooting, she asked for help for her daughter, describing her as having a “nervous breakdown” and told the dispatcher, “Please don’t send combative, biased police officers, please. I’m afraid of the police. Sometimes they make the situation worse.”
Grayson, who has since been fired by the sheriff’s office, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
CBS News has learned that Grayson had a history of disciplinary problems in other law enforcement agencies, including allegations that he placed false information in his police reports and once disobeyed an order to end a high-speed chase.
Campbell said the sheriff’s office did not have that information when Grayson was hired, but told CBS News that while he would have “preferred to have it,” he “can’t speculate” whether it would have changed his decision to hire Grayson.
“I don’t know,” Campbell said of whether Grayson’s past had slipped through the cracks.
Grayson also pleaded guilty twice to driving under the influence of alcohol, in 2016 and 2017. However, Campbell said those DUIs were “not a red flag.”
“There was absolutely nothing in his background that would disqualify him as an officer in Illinois,” Campbell said.
Scott Butterfield, a retired Sangamon County deputy sheriff and the father of Grayson’s girlfriend, wrote a glowing reference for Grayson before he was hired.
“I worked with Scott for 24 years, and that gives me some confidence that he would recommend someone, but it’s not a free pass to the front line,” Campbell said.
At a community meeting Monday, residents called on Campbell to resign. At least three Sangamon County Council members have also called on Campbell to resign, and an online petition calling for his resignation has received more than 38,000 signatures.
“I’ve been elected twice to run the same county sheriff’s office, overwhelmingly,” Campbell told CBS News. “And that responsibility applies in good times and bad.”
When asked what he and the sheriff’s office could have done better, Campbell said, “I don’t think there’s much we could have done better.”
contributed to this report.
Roxana Sabéri
