SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Attorneys for late-former Sangamon County Sheriffs Deputy and convicted murderer Sean Grayson say because he died of cancer, there’s no need to keep the conviction on his record.
Documents filed with the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield are asking to abate Grayson’s appeal of the conviction, and the conviction itself.
Grayson was sentenced in January to 20 years in prison for which he was convicted of second degree murder for the 2024 death of Sonya Massey.
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board denied a request to release him early because cancer was spreading throughout his body. Grayson died last month, maintaining until his death that the shooting of Massey was in self defense, due to a pot of boiling water he claims she was going to throw at him, after saying “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Prosecutors claimed Massey was going to do no such thing, as she had been ordered to put down the pot. Grayson and another deputy went to her home on a call she needed mental help.
After the filing was made, the newly-formed Massey Community Action Network released a statement.
Today (Thursday) Sean Grayson’s attorney filed a motion of “abatement ab initio”. This motion is a request based on a rule in criminal law which negates a conviction if the defendant died before they could exhaust all appeals. While we understand this is a *request* available through our justice system, our primary concern is to the Massey family and the continued pain made anew at each new legal hurdle.
The Massey Community Action Network grew from the work of the Massey Commission and carries forward its commitment to accountability and meaningful community change. Our legal system reviewed all relevant information and rendered a guilty verdict to Sean Grayson for his murder of Sonya Massey. His death a few months into his twenty year sentence does not abate the murder at his hands. He took Sonya Massey’s life while serving as a law enforcement officer responding to her call for help.
No matter the legal outcome, we know that Grayson is guilty of taking an innocent life. Sonya Massey’s life matters and his conviction enforced that truth. A request to abate his conviction cannot abate that truth.
We continue to hold the family close as we do this work and as they brace for yet another barrage of pain, press, and public scrutiny they do not deserve.
