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This story was originally published by Invisible Institute, IPM Newsroom, and the Investigative Reporting Workshop
Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County, Illinois, sheriffâs deputy now facing murder charges in the death of Sonya Massey, left a previous agency following allegations of inappropriate conduct with a female detainee. Grayson was also accused of retaliating against the detaineeâs boyfriend after she filed a complaint.
Invisible Institute, Illinois Public Media, and the Investigative Reporting Workshop obtained new records from the Logan County Sheriffâs Office, where Grayson worked for 11 months prior to Sangamon County, that show department officials concluded Grayson ignored internal policies during a high-speed chase, fielded at least two formal complaints about his behavior, and told him directly that they had considered firing him.
These records also include audio recordings from a November 2022 interview between Grayson and Logan Countyâs chief deputy which suggest the department â as well as other police departments that had employed him â were previously aware of issues with his performance and integrity as an officer.
Graysonâs relatively short law enforcement career, during which he moved between six Central Illinois police departments in just four years, has come under scrutiny in the weeks since he shot and killed Sonya Massey on July 6, 2024. Body-camera footage of the incident shows that Grayson shot at Massey three times after entering her home and telling her to drop a pot of boiling water. He has since pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct.
Daniel Fultz, Graysonâs defense attorney, declined to comment about the allegations contained within Graysonâs file from his time at Logan County, the mostly rural county of about 28,000 people between Springfield and Peoria.
Logan County Sheriff Mark Landers said Grayson was not under investigation when he left the department but declined to comment further. Grayson resigned from the Logan County Sheriffâs Office to take a position with the Sangamon County Sheriffâs Office. He remained there until he was fired after the killing of Sonya Massey in July 2024.
An undated report announcing Graysonâs resignation from Logan County reads that he left the sheriffâs office âin good standing.â
Jeff Wilhite, the spokesperson for the Sangamon County Sheriffâs Office, wrote that the sheriffâs office was ânot provided any such information from any of Graysonâs former employers, nor from any crediting agency.â
âWe cannot comment on whether the information is accurate, nor why it was not shared by another agency,â Wilhite wrote in a statement.
Dropped Charges
By the time he applied to be a deputy at the Logan County Sheriffâs Office in March 2022, Grayson had four different policing jobs across Central Illinois: three part-time gigs and one full-time post. âMy communication, people-centric nature, and compassion have afforded me excellent critical thinking skills,â Grayson wrote in his application.
âHeâs a bragger.â
But when Logan County officials called his current employer, the Auburn Police Department, they received mixed reviews. Auburn Police Chief Dave Campbell said that, while Grayson was an eager officer who showed up for his shifts early and had never been disciplined, he struggled with report writing and had raised concerns that he was âtoo aggressive.â
âVery aggressive with getting drugs,â the interviewer wrote in their notes. âHeâs a bragger.â
The Auburn Police Department declined to answer any questions about Graysonâs previous employment or evaluations.
Despite this official background, he was hired full-time at the agency â the largest department he had worked for thus far. In his own interview, Grayson said he hoped to have a long law enforcement career in Logan County. âWould like to retire here,â officials noted of his aspirations.
But it quickly became apparent that he may not have been the best fit for the agency.
The first sign of trouble in Logan County came just months after his hiring. According to department records, while on patrol around 1:41 a.m. on September 22, 2022, Grayson spotted a woman in a parked truck, who seemingly crouched down in the driverâs seat in an attempt to avoid being seen by him.
When the woman drove away, Grayson followed her and eventually attempted to pull her over for allegedly rolling through a stop sign â prompting Grayson to initiate a high-speed chase during which he struck a deer. In reviewing the incident, department officials found that, in a number of instances, the details of Graysonâs written report did not match the dash camera footage from his vehicle and that he had violated a number of policies during the chase.
In the interview, Grayson appears to admit to initiating the traffic pursuit, which reached speeds of 110 miles per hour, for potentially illegal reasons, claiming that the woman who he attempted to pull over looked suspicious. His supervisors ultimately recommended he receive training for âhigh-stress decision making.â
In a lengthy interview about the chase in November 2022, Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller and another department supervisor made clear that Grayson had not been operating up to their expectations and that they were aware of issues with arrests he had made while at his previous departments â issues that pointed to questions about Graysonâs accuracy and honesty in writing reports.
âI know that you had a lot of cases presented in other jurisdictions, correct?â Miller asked Grayson in the interrogation.
âSo, all my cases in Auburn were dropped after I left,â Grayson said.
âBut even prior to that,â Miller pushed. âThere was some agitation because cases were not prosecuted.â
âYes, there was two ââ
âSean, Iâm going to have a hard, straight-up conversation with you right now,â Miller said. âI have a strong feeling I know why they were dropped. ⊠I donât want you to take offense to this: They dropped your cases because of what Iâm looking at right here.â
As the interview continued, Miller brought up concerns with Graysonâs professionalism and honesty, and revisited the September chase.
âWhat was the stop for?â Miller asked.
âWell, initially it was just for rolling the stop sign,â Grayson said. âIt was a simple little traffic thing.
My initial reason for wanting to stop them was the behavior in the vehicle, which caught my attention. I just needed to wait for them to start the vehicle,” Grayson said.
“You were going to stop them just for their behavior in the vehicle?” Miller asked.
“No, I mean, I was going to wait for a traffic violation, but in my mind, that was the main reason why I wanted to see what they were doing, was the reaction of the female in the truck,” Grayson explained.
According to Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who directs the schoolâs Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, this was a âclassic pretext stopâ â one without any legitimate reason other than to pull the person over.
“Seeing someone look at you and then slouch doesnât create reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime, so thereâs no legal basis to stop. He does admit his plan was, âIâm going to follow and then stop her as soon as I can find any reason to do so,â” Futterman said. âItâs the classic, there will be some traffic violation I can come up with that will provide a basis to stop after the fact.â
After questioning Grayson about the accuracy of his report, Miller used Google Maps to show that Grayson had been on a different street during the incident than he had written in his report. Miller pointed out that it would have been impossible for Grayson to have seen the woman in the truck based on where he had written they were both sitting.
“If I allowed this report to go through, and you pushed for a warrant and got it, just by asking you those questions, you got a report writing violation, an accuracy violation, and a standard of conduct violation. And weâre only 48 seconds into this. If I allowed this report to go through, an attorney will ask you exactly what I just asked you. Do you understand that you may have compromised your credibility?” Miller asked.
Miller referenced a previous conversation in which he had instructed Grayson to review the video from the case and ensure the accuracy of his report. He emphasized the importance of integrity and the consequences of stretching the law.
âI have zero tolerance for stretching the law. When you have officers that stretch the law, they will get caught. They will get prosecuted, and they will handcuff the rest of law enforcement in this state, this nation, behind the back,â Miller said.
Miller then mentioned the possibility of terminating Grayson and stressed the importance of upholding the Constitution and department policies.
âEverybody likes you. I gotta be able to trust you. Was this a purposefully-done lie?â Miller asked.
âNo,â Grayson responded.
Despite the intense questioning, Miller’s final report did not accuse Grayson of dishonesty. Instead, he recommended additional training for Grayson, including classes on high-stress decision-making and understanding department policies.
âDeputy Grayson acknowledged he lacks experience,â Miller wrote in his report.
Logan County Stateâs Attorney Bradley Hauge said his office had not received any notification of credibility issues with Grayson. The Logan County public defenderâs office refused to comment, and the Sangamon County stateâs attorneyâs office did not respond to a request for comment.
Allegations of harassment were also raised against Grayson in December 2022. A woman whom Grayson had arrested on drug possession charges filed a complaint with the Logan County Sheriffâs Office, alleging that Grayson instructed her to remove drugs from inside herself in front of male officers, causing her to feel afraid and forced. The woman was later left exposed to male officers while lying on a hospital bed in a gown during a drug removal procedure. She documented that the doctor immediately closed the curtain and instructed the officers not to enter while she was exposed. In her complaint to the department, she expressed feeling violated and uncertain about how to address the situation until now. She accused Officer Grayson of inappropriate behavior and misuse of his authority. Memorial Health System did not respond to requests for comment.
A few weeks later, the woman’s fiancĂ©, also a detainee at the Logan County Jail, filed a complaint alleging that Grayson abused his power and harassed him in retaliation for the woman’s complaint. Grayson reportedly made inappropriate comments to the man about the woman’s personal life. Grayson denied any wrongdoing and claimed he only asked basic questions to the man through the jail cell door.
Chief Deputy Miller deemed the woman’s complaint unfounded, stating that Grayson was trained on best practices. There is no resolution provided for the man’s grievance. The identities of the complainants were not disclosed as per Illinois public records law.
Grayson’s employment history at multiple police departments, including a discharge for misconduct while in the U.S. Army, raises concerns about “wandering officers” who move from one department to another. Despite Grayson’s past arrests for driving while intoxicated, he explained in an email that he had matured and changed his life around.
Illinois implemented reforms in 2021 to prevent officers with a history of misconduct from being rehired. However, progress on the new decertification system has been slow, and the Professional Conduct Database is now confidential, making it challenging for the public to access information about officer misconduct. The Logan County Sheriff’s Office’s decision to only recommend training for Grayson despite concerns about his honesty and history of lying on reports raises questions about accountability within the department. If the Logan County Sheriffâs Office failed to report concerns about Grayson’s credibility, it would violate the 2021 reforms, according to Impact for Equity’s staff counsel, Amy Thompson.
Despite the reforms, Grayson’s career was not significantly impacted, indicating a need for stronger accountability measures. The current decertification system has not revoked police powers from officers without criminal convictions, and limitations on reporting cases to the Professional Conduct Database may have prevented allegations against Grayson from being disclosed to the state.
The state board aims to ensure accountability for all Illinois residents, especially those in areas with limited law enforcement oversight. It is crucial that smaller agencies uphold the same standards of accountability as larger ones to address misconduct effectively.
This article was created in partnership with the Invisible Institute and the Investigative Reporting Workshop, highlighting the importance of public accountability journalism. Farrah Anderson and Sam Stecklow contributed to the investigative reporting, with additional insights from Illinois Times Senior Staff Writer Dean Olsen.
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