James Wilburn, the father of Sonya Massey, the Black woman killed inside her home by a deputy after calling 911 to report a possible intruder, is speaking out. Wilburn says his daughter’s blood falls on the hands of agencies that overlooked the officer’s history of concerning behavior.
“They are all responsible for having this madman and giving him a badge and a gun in order to kill my baby girl,” he told KATV 7 in a new interview on Saturday (July 27). “If they had not done that, if those police chiefs and those other municipalities, if that sheriff in the other municipality that hired him, if the sheriff in Sangamon County had not hired him, my baby would still be alive today,” the grieving father said.
Sean Grayson, 30, was fired from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office following an investigation into his use of force on the night of July 6. His personnel records reveal he worked for six departments since 2020 and that he was discharged from the Army for misconduct after nearly two years of service in 2016. Grayson also had two DUIs on his record and temporarily lost his driving privileges before being hired in Sangamon in May 2023.
On Friday (July 26), autopsy results determined the 36-year-old died from a gunshot wound to the face. The bullet entered through her lower left eyelid and exited from her neck. Her death was ruled a homicide. “The autopsy confirms what everybody already knows, that this was just a senseless, unnecessary, excessive use of force,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the Massey family’s criminal case against Grayson. Crump also noted the victim was shot from a downward trajectory as she crouched with her hands shielding her face.
As widely reported, Massey was ordered to remove a heated pot of water from the stove when she uttered, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” An enraged Grayson threatened to shoot the woman as she apologized and crouched for cover before being shot in her Woodside Township residence.
“If he really felt in danger, there should be an escalation of force policy, so you start out with mace, you start off with a taser. Some officers have nun chucks on their duty belt or a baton of some type,” said Wilburn. “The last thing you go to is a gun,” Massey’s father continued.
However, Grayson’s disciplinary files and Girard Police Chief Wayman Meredith’s recollection of the man paint him as someone with bullying tendencies. Wayman told CBS News that his former colleague once tried to coerce him into abusing his authority. “He was wanting me to do stuff that was not kosher,” he told the news outlet.
Recordings of a former Logan County Sheriff’s Office superior admonishing Grayson for falsifying reports and “official misconduct” were also obtained by CBS News in the wake of Massey’s death. The disgraced law enforcement officer worked for the department from May 2022 to April 2023. “The sheriff and I will not tolerate lying or deception,” said the officer during the November 2022 meeting. Grayson was warned, “Officers [like you] have been charged and they end up in jail.”
Grayson is being held without bond until trial, as a judge declared him a threat to the community. He has been indicted on multiple counts of first degree murder, as well as aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 26.
View James Wilburn’s full interview with KATV 7 below.