PEORIA — The murder case of a white ex-cop accused of killing an unarmed Black woman in her Springfield-area home is now before a jury after lawyers on both sides presented their closing arguments Tuesday.
In a nationally watched trial, former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, 31, is facing three counts of first-degree murder for fatally shooting 36-year-old Sonya Massey. Last year, she called the police to report a suspected prowler when Grayson and another deputy responded.
That seemingly routine call took a fatal turn in a matter of minutes, when Grayson threatened to shoot Massey “in her f- – -ing face” if she didn’t put down a pot of boiling water that had been on her stovetop. The former deputy shot at Massey three times while she ducked behind her kitchen counter, striking her under her left eye.
Grayson has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued he was acting in self-defense because he believed Massey intended to throw the pot of water at him.
Jurors began deliberating Grayson’s fate around lunchtime and ended the day Tuesday without reaching a verdict. They will resume deliberations Wednesday.
But jurors did pose two questions to the judge overseeing the case after they went behind closed doors.
One was a request to review police-worn body camera videos that have been a critical piece of evidence in the trial. The jury asked to look at Grayson’s and at his partner’s recordings, and to view them side-by-side.
The other question had to do with a reference in jury instructions to a state law that governs when use of force is impermissible as an act of self-defense.
Earlier Tuesday, in closing arguments, prosecutor Mary Beth Rodgers characterized Grayson as a chronic liar about events that happened the night of Massey’s death, noting discrepancies between his testimony last week and what the bodycam footage revealed.
Rodgers also insisted the police video showed Massey was being fully compliant with Grayson’s demands, contrary to what the former officer said, but he shot her anyway.
Standing before the jury, Rodgers threw her hands in the air, jumped backward from the jury box and said “I’m sorry” — courtroom flourishes meant to reenact the words and actions Massey took moments before Grayson shot her.
“She wasn’t exactly sure what kind of help she needed, but she was sure the defendant wasn’t going to help her,” Rodgers said. “She wasn’t threatening him. She was complying.”
Rodgers’ partner, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser, emphasized that Massey had nowhere to go in her home after Grayson drew his gun on her. By contrast, Milhiser said the former officer could have walked out of Massey’s unlocked front door if he genuinely felt threatened by her.
Milhiser, who gave Massey’s mother a hug before court was in session Tuesday morning, showed jurors the kitchen pot at the heart of the case. He then showed the jury the contents of Grayson’s medical kit, suggesting that if Grayson had rendered aid to Massey with those supplies sooner, she may have survived the gunshot wound to her face.
“This is not a reasonable self-defense,” Milhiser said. “Sean Grayson’s actions are so out of bounds of civilized society. Sonya Massey is dead because of Sean Grayson’s actions.”
Grayson’s mother, who has sat in the courtroom gallery every day of the trial, held her head in her hands as prosecutors spoke to the jury.
During his closing argument, Dan Fultz, Grayson’s lead defense attorney, implored the jury not to let “emotions dictate the outcome of the case.”
“You promised us that you would not make up your mind until you heard all the evidence,” Fultz said. “I told you in the beginning that there is a presumption of innocence that stays with Sean Grayson.”
Fultz said Massey can be seen on the bodycam video grabbing the pot of water, lifting it over her shoulder and making a “throwing motion” at Grayson in the milliseconds before he shot her. Fultz also recalled testimony from police use-of-force experts his team had called up to testify, who said deadly force is an appropriate form of de-escalating a situation.
“You’re not here to decide whether Sean Grayson followed every single police policy, or every single police best practice,” Fultz said.
He told jurors that Grayson took the witness stand when he didn’t have to.
Fultz also acknowledged Grayson’s profane interactions with Massey leading up to her shooting and afterward, when he referred to her as “f- – -ing crazy.” But Fultz told jurors that they “don’t have to agree with Grayson’s bedside manner.”
“I couldn’t care less whether you like Sean Grayson; you’re not here for that,” Fultz said. “I submit to you that every day in courtrooms all across the country, people are acquitted on charges of things they did not do.”
“Don’t try to do what the public expects you to do,” Fultz said.