Deputy who killed Sonya Massey drew concerns over his aggression and integrity issues in previous jobs
The fired deputy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in Illinois had been reprimanded in a previous job over inaccuracies in his police reports, failure to follow orders from a senior leader and a perceived lack of integrity, according to a disciplinary file.
The fired deputy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in Illinois had been reprimanded in a previous job over inaccuracies in his police reports, failure to follow orders from a senior leader and a perceived lack of integrity, according to a disciplinary file.
The admonishments are in Sean Grayson’s personnel file from the Logan County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office, where he worked for about a year before he joined the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Sangamon County fired Grayson this month, nearly two weeks after he killed Massey in her home after she had called police to report a prowler.
The records indicate that the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and the Auburn Police Department, where he worked from July 2021 to May 2022, had been aware of issues with his performance. The Logan County sheriff and the Auburn police chief declined requests for an interview or comment. It is not clear whether those departments shared any concerns with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office before Grayson was hired, though the Auburn Police Department appears to have relayed its concerns to Logan County. The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to a request for Grayson’s personnel files.
In a conversation recorded on Nov. 9, 2022, Grayson was called in to talk with Nathan Miller, a chief deputy with the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, and Michael Block, who identified himself as a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office. In the conversation, Grayson’s superiors told him that a report he had written would not be approved and submitted to the state’s attorney because it included inaccurate information and could be perceived as “official misconduct.”
NBC News obtained a recording of the conversation from the sheriff’s office through a public records request.
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