Experts: When officer who killed Massey was dismissed from the force for drunk driving, he should have raised the flags | News, Sports, Jobs

In this image, taken from bodycam video released by the Illinois State Police, Sonya Massey (left) talks with former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson outside her home in Springfield, Illinois, on July 6, 2024. Footage released Monday, July 22, by a prosecutor shows a chaotic scene in which Massey, who called 911 for help, is shot in the face by Grayson inside her home. (Illinois State Police via AP)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois sheriff’s deputy charged in the shooting death of Sonya Massey was dismissed from the force for the first of two drunken driving convictions in which he had a gun in his car, authorities said, but that didn’t stop multiple law enforcement agencies from giving him a badge. Before his police career began with six jobs in four years — the first three of which were part-time — Sean Grayson, 30, was convicted of drunken driving twice in a year, costing him his enlistment. The convictions plus his previous work history should have raised serious questions when the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department hired him in May 2023, law enforcement experts said. Grayson, who has since been fired, is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm and official misconduct in the death of Massey, a 36-year-old black woman who called 911 about a suspected burglar at her home in Springfield, 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty.
“Six jobs in four years should have been a red flag. And you’d wonder why he wasn’t hired full-time for one of those (part-time) jobs,” said Chuck Wexler, director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank in Washington, D.C. “Combined with a history of driving under the influence, it would be sufficient to do further testing to determine if he would be a good candidate.”
Grayson, who enlisted in the Army in 2014, was charged with driving under the influence in Macoupin County, just south of Sangamon County, following traffic stops on Aug. 10, 2015, and again on July 26, 2016. The first DUI arrest resulted in his discharge from the Army in February 2016 due to “serious misconduct”, Grayson was found in a vehicle with a gun, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel information, adding that Grayson had an unregistered weapon in his vehicle. Macoupin County District Attorney Jordan Garrison confirmed that police found a weapon in the center console, but Grayson was not charged with a gun because he lived in Fort Riley, Kansas. Kansas has an open carry law. Grayson was given a general discharge with honorable conditions — rather than an honorable discharge — because he was charged by a civilian law enforcement agency and his military service was otherwise good. His attorney, Daniel Fultz, declined to comment Monday. A misdemeanor DUI charge does not legally disqualify someone from serving in law enforcement, said Sean Smoot, chairman of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, but an agency could certainly consider it.
“Some police departments wouldn’t have hired someone with one DUI,” said Smoot. “I’m shocked that an agency would hire someone with two DUIs, but apparently several agencies have done that.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn, has called for the resignation of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. “He has no intention of resigning,” Campbell spokesman Jeff Wilhite said. A statement from Campbell’s office said the county merit commission and the state law enforcement board recommended Grayson’s certification as an officer despite the DUIs, and he passed a drug test, a background check, a psychological evaluation and a 16-week academy course. Before coming to Springfield, Grayson worked for a year as a deputy sheriff in Logan County, just northeast of the city. According to a report obtained through a public records request, he was told he needed more training, including “lessons for high stress decision making”, in November 2022 after he failed to obey an order to stop a high-speed chase in which he reached speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h) before colliding with a deer. When he applied for a job at Logan, an employment report from Auburn, south of Springfield, where he had previously worked, showed that while Grayson was always early for work, enjoyed training, was open to criticism and had never been disciplined, he had difficulty writing reports, “not so good with evidence – stuff lying around the office” and was “a braggart.”
Logan County records also contain misconduct complaints from two people Grayson arrested, including one in which a woman who admitted to having drugs in a body cavity alleged that Grayson gave her a glove and told her to remove the contraband for him and another male officer. She was later taken to a hospital to have it removed, and alleged that Grayson burst through the curtain during the procedure. He denied both complaints and resigned from Logan County before the investigation was completed. In the bodycam video from the night of the shooting, Grayson and another officer find no evidence of an intruder and wait several minutes for Massey to respond, with Grayson noting that she is dead inside and calling out for her impatiently. Massey, who had mental health issues, appears distraught and says: “Do not hurt me.” Grayson sometimes reacts condescendingly or impatiently.
“His behavior before, during and after the incident suggests that this man was a loose cannon, and that’s putting it politely,” said Kalfani Ture, a former police officer who is now an assistant professor of criminal justice at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, and a lecturer at the New York Police Department’s academy. At Massey’s home, Grayson is seen ordering her to remove a pot of water from a flame on the stove. Massey appears to set the pot down by the sink. The two joke about Grayson walking away from her. “hot, steaming water” and Massey says inexplicably: “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
That prompts Grayson to pull out his gun. Massey apologizes and ducks behind a counter, but when Grayson yells at her to drop the jar, she appears to pick it up again. Grayson fires three times, hitting her in the face, and makes no immediate attempt to provide medical attention because “That’s a headshot.”
“That is not characteristic of an officer. That is characteristic of someone who has a depraved indifference to human life,” said Ture. “And this incident is not an aberration. Someone like this is quite consistent in showing this kind of profile.”
Ture said Massey likely picked up the pan again because she was confused by the shouted commands. He was too quick to resort to deadly force — he had other options, including using a stun gun, chemical spray or simply subduing the smaller woman, Ture said. Pulling his weapon escalated the incident, Wexler said.
“He should have slowed down, communicated, had a plan B and known where the door was to get out of the house, and not put himself in a position where he had no choice but to use deadly force by standing still, drawing his weapon and shouting commands,” said Wexler.