Grayson Trial

 July 6th 2024 is a date that will forever be etched into the minds of many people. Central Il will remember this day as the day a woman lost her life in her home at the hands of a Sangamon County Sheriff's Department Deputy named Sean Grayson. In the following weeks we learned that this was not your oridnary officer involved shooting. The bodycam gave us a glimpse into what went down that night, but still there are many unanswered questions. The trial of Sean Grayson began October 20, 2025 in Peoria IL, and it is not being televised, so members of the press are now helping share what is happening behind the courtroom doors.

As a resident of Springfield IL I felt the same horror that many others did when we first saw the bodycam footage, heard Grayson's remarks, and watched as Deputy Dawson Farley tried to render aid, then had to process the events that went down with shaking hands as he was standing behind his cruiser. Since the world cannot follow this case I wanted to share with you what is happening, some insights into what I know of the area, and my own opinion. 

I don't know what it was like for Sonya Massey to be face to face with police as a woman of color, but as someone who has struggled with mental illness for nearly thirty years now, I can at least somewhat understand that feeling of helplessness and confusion that grips a person while their illness is at it's worst. 

So, below I will include my observations form the opening statements and testimony on October 22, 2025. Other entries will incude other days. Now, I promise this blog will have it's lighter moments with gossip and book recs, as well as updates on what I'm writing, but this topic is just so important to share, that I felt the need to start with this. Thanks yall for being here and following. 

Previous notes, on Tuesday the official misconduct charge was dropped

I’m going to add some “Jessa notes” that aren’t included in the actual trial testimony and background for anyone who isn’t as fully educated on this case. I’ve followed this since literally day one. My older daughter’s bday is July 8th and at that point we all knew something bad had happened, but it wasn’t until the footage was released that the gravity of the brutality became crystal clear. I will try and change the color of those comments to Purple or pink depending on which one is easier to read. 

Wed 10/22/2025

Prosecution is States Atty John Milhiser 

Judge Ryan Cadigan

Defense is Dan Fultz and Mark Wycoff 

Opening statements about a dozen friends and family of Sonya have arrived and 9 people are present to support Grayson. I wonder if one is his lovely soon to be grandmother in law who wrote the garbage to the Muddy Creek news. Literally gagged reading that. I can’t tell who all is here for Sonya, they’re seated behind us. I did notice her father who has been a strong presence through proceedings and appears to have a good, cordial relationship with the State’s Atty

Apx 9:10 am Milhiser is going over the timeline of the day Sonya lost her life. He notes that Grayson did not turn on his bodycam. (this is mentioned in the bodycam footage that was actually running since the moment the partner arrived. I can link the original upload to Illinois State Police’s Youtube it has everything from the moment they arrived (Grayson being a major douche-canoe, and the fateful shooting and moments after)

Milhiser points out that not turning on his bodycam is a trend for Grayson. In previous hearings it was decided that prior officer misconduct and behavior at other precincts is not to be mentioned in court. I am still trying to get FOIA for some of the other cities. (I actually grew up in Kincaid where he was also a cop, and lemme tell yall that small town has had some issues with crappy cops. I’d love to pick the old chief’s brain. He booted him off the force)

Milhiser continues to go over the three 1st degree murder charges. He points out the differences in them. 1. Intending to kill Sonya Massey, 2) Doing an act and knowing  it will kill Massey, 3) Doing an act and knowing there’s a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to Ms. Massey

He includes that the jury will hear from the Deputy that accompanied Grayson on July 6th and a doctor who will explain the single gunshot wound to Sonya’s face (the bodycam footage is going to be brutal. Everything has been censored so far, but I’m sure in court it won’t be so I hope the jury has support. Oh also mind yall this single gunshot wound to the face happened directly after deputy dickhead basically told her he’d do it, alas this is my obvious bias, I will try to keep it in check, but I suck at it)

Milhiser goes in hard and passionately “It will be clear that the defendant, without lawful justification, in the home of Sonya Massey, shot and killed her.”

He continues on “He did not follow training, he did not follow policies, and is guilty of first-degree murder.” (bam mic drop bitch!)

9:18 Fultz is up. The prosecution kept it short and sweet, they touched on exactly what they needed to and did not add a lot of fluff. 

Fulz asks the jury to wait to see the defense’s argument before forming an opinion (State is up first and yeah they’ve got good evidence. Milhiser knows it’s gonna be an uphill battle)

Gag me, he states that there is no crime if the shooting was lawful. I hope my eyes don’t get stuck in the back of my head. He states that Grayson believed he would suffer great bodily harm from the boiling pot of water. (yall she did not throw a damn pot of water at the man. I have broken that footage down frame by frame, but I’m not the expert nor do I have credentials outside of a press pass and craziness) 

He claims that even after clear and repeated orders Ms. Massey still lifted the pot of boiling water over her head and threw it at Grayson, and that is when he discharged the weapon. (okay back story I have looked at the autopsy report, if it was genuinely a pot full of boiling water and steaming as he states I would assume she would at the very least have scalding wounds as she laid in the water as is seen in the footage, but there is absolutely no mention of this anywhere in the report. I hope that is mentioned)

Blah, “What happened to Ms. Massey was a tragedy, but it was not a crime.” (is this the new anthem of d-bag killers)

And that is is, wrapped the opening up at 9:25 and went on break

9: 44 am First witness, Lt Eric Weston of the Illinois State Police Criminal Investigations Zone 4 is called to the stand . 

Milhiser is questioning and Weston has been involved in more than a dozen officer-involved shootings. When Weston viewed the footage, he could not make up his mind if Grayson’s actions were justified, so he informed State’s Attorney Milhiser immediately. 

At 10:04 Milhiser approaches, and hands Weston a sheet. This has Grayson’s training and employment history. Grayson had crisis intervention training for which he took the course in March 2023. Became part time officer in Aug 2020. 

Ohh, Weston points out that Grayson worked in  6 different agencies in central IL, over a 4 year period (2020 to 2024) 

My Personal Notes on these btw (not mentioned in court) 

Kincaid, this is where I grew up small town like 1k people about 20 minutes outside of Springfield in Christian county which is East of Sangamon county)

Pawnee - about 15ish minutes outside of springfield also in Sangamon County just shy of 2700 people in this city

Virden - in Macoupin County about 35 min outside of Springfield not a very big town either with a population of about 3k. Macoupin county is South West of Springfield 

 

Auburn - also in Sangamon county (Literally if you get on route 104 it goes through Kincaid, to Pawnee, to Auburn also has a population of about 3k 

Logan County Sheriff’s office- North East of Sangamon County largest town in this county is Lincoln 13,800 population

Finally he was hired at Sangamon County Sheriff’s office (nepotism bs) this is where I live now, in Springfield Il where this happened. The shooting occurred in an area of Springfield called the Cabbage Patch. Incorporated parts of Springfield are handled by Springfield Police Department, but unincorporated areas are serviced by the county deputies. So it’s a bit hit and miss where certain officers will arrive. Example being I live near the State Fair Grounds, and we are unincorporated so the Sheriff’s Office handles calls here. About two years ago I got some new neighbors who are a hot mess, so I’ve come to know these folks fairly well. I don’t recall any interactions with Grayson, he gives mega douche energy so that’s damn good. Anyways, the Cabbage patch is about four miles South from where I am, but is covered by the Sheriff’s Office as well. 

And now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s get back to Milhiser

10:07 Weston states the investigation was “all hands on deck” he called in every agent in his office to work on it

That’s about it for Milhiser

10:08 Mark Wykoff jumps in to cross examine Lt. Weston. 

Yall Grayson is looking like a smug douche nozzel, but that’s just my opinion. He has lost weight in prison right now dude is taking notes. I kinda wanna smack him, but I guess that won’t go well. 

Wykoff notes that Weston was not fully present for the investigation, he is a supervisor working to get a clearer picture of the team. Basically stated that Weston was not physically present when the shooting happened. 

Cringe moment at 10:20 ish when Mark Wykoff pats Grayson on the back and refers to the body-cam footage as “memorialized” the incident. Weston wasn’t having that though, he replies with a statement that he wouldn’t say “memorialized”, but recorded parts of the incident. (Weston gets a cookie dammit)

Objection from the prosecution when Wykoff asked if Weston forming assumptions on the case based on watching the body-cam footage. Objection was sustained, and struck from the record. He did ask a similar question but not in such an accusatory tone. 

Wykoff mentions that Weston’s role is to provide an unclouded, clinically neutral, dispassionate point of view to the investigation. (which imo isn’t helping the defense, because nothing has pointed to the contrary so far)

Wykoff then brings up the fact that only two bullet casings were initially collected, but after Weston watched the footage he and his team heard three shots, thus they were deployed to the scene 48 hours later at which point they collected the third. They did not collect the pot, at that time. It was collected 2 weeks after the shooting by ISP

No further questions 

Milhiser on the redirect at 10:37 ish It is clarified that not all officer-involved shooting cases are criminal cases. And that is all break for about 15 min now 

Back in at 10:55 and Kathryn Barton a Sangamon County dispatcher takes the stand

Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Beth Rodgers is handling this, and she opens with asking Barton to explain how dispatching works. 

(Mary Beth is giving some here for it vibes) 

Oh good question, she asks , “What call type is a prowler?” 

Barton responds “A prowler is a call that you would label a suspicious person after dark, someone who is not where they are supposed to be.”  

Massey called and provided her address and Barton states that it sounded like there was someone outside the house making noises on the side of the house, the call was disconnected in the end. The call is played , no cross and break till 1 pm central time. 

And I have absolutely no clue where to eat yall, but I’m hungry. 

Spoiler alert I had Sonin on the cheap So I can splurge and meet my best friend for lunch tomorrow 

Okay heads up as I start transferring notes this afternoon has been HEAVY the bodycam footage was played and Deputy Farley took the stand. There have been tears from the family and the jury. 

Okay here we go starting around 1:05 pm Deputy Dawson Farley takes the stand for the state. He is the partner who was present with Grayson the night of the fatal shooting, and thank goodness one of the cops who follow protocol so we had his body worn camera footage from the moment he got there. I’m going to post the link to the IL State Police youtube channel that has the official footage. Even though it is censored trigger warning because it’s still very hard to watch 

https://youtu.be/HFun2GydGyU?si=5QmhxRy08ET8VO1z

You’ll have officer Dawson Farley’s footage which is the longer footage. He had his cam running as soon as he deployed, while Grayson’s automatically turned on after the shooting. The way the camera works is it will record I believe 30 seconds before shots are fired. I could be wrong. Last time I double checked it was about a year ago. 

Okay back to Farley who I will tell y’all this man has been on my heart since July last year because you’ll see at the end of the footage that he was in so much shock that his hands shook as he tried to wash them clean of Ms. Massey’s blood. There were people who tried to dox him at one point, but the majority of central IL came to his defense and shut that down immediately. 

Grayson is zeroed in on Farley as he approaches. He must know that this is going to be huge. His demeanor has shifted from the laid back vibe he had this morning to more rigid movement. I wish I could see his face to get an idea of whether or not he has mouth shrugs, or other micro-expressions, but I’m not going to be a choosy beggar up in here. 

1:19 Farley noted that when she opened the door Sonya said “Please, don’t hurt me.” and as Deputy Farley continues to recount the events of the night one of Sonya’s family members has to leave the courtroom. Another media member let me know it’s her cousin. 

Milhiser asks Farley what he thought when Sony said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” and boom here’s one of the nails in the Grayson defense coffin, because Farley was states “confusion” and he did not see the comment as a threat. 

It is then that Dep. Farley witnessed Grayson drawing his firearm and point it at Ms. Massey. Farley pulled his as well, but he did so following training and back his partner. He did NOT see or hear anything that required him to draw his firearm. 

He goes on to describe that he saw Sonya duck behind the counter. That’s when Grayson stepped in front of Farley which they are NOT supposed to do they are trained not to step in front of their partner when weapons are drawn. He heard Grayson say “drop” then the shots. 

1:26 pm Farley states he tried to run back to the doorway to alert dispatch to shots being fired. He came back inside to the scene, put his firearm away, and made the comment about getting a medical bag. Grayson’s response as those who have seen the horrific footage know was “it’s a headshot” and not to bother. Farley was caught off guard. 

Jessa note I have always wondered what he was thinking in the moment and if he was as taken aback as most of us were with that comment. 

Farley then recalls how he grabbed a dish towel and applied pressure to Massey’s gunshot wound to stop the bleeding. 

He emphasized that he was not scared or nervous about anything Massey did or thought that she would harm him. She did not alarm him.  FREAKING HUGE AND i KNEW IT!

Tangent time. Throughout the footage you’ll see how not once, not even a hint of once did Farley agree with Grayson when he stated he had no other choice or that he was afraid of the water. I knew that his silence spoke volumes. 

Hitting the 1:30 pm mark and Dep. Farley is now clarifying that in his written report the fear he felt and the reason he drew his firearm was from Grayson’s actions and nothing that Sonay did. Deputy Farley states, “I just wanted to do right by Sonya and her family.” 

I am so glad that Deputy Farley was able to be there that night. Sonya Massey faced the worst of what Springfield and humanity had to offer, but Farley showed compassion and proves that Grayson is not a representation of the people of Springfield. He is the outlier. 

With that, it’s now time for Fultz to cross examine. 

Also Grayson seems to be looking everywhere except for at Farley. He is fidgety and you could almost see the wind deflate from his sails when Farley mentioned that he was not afraid of Sonya. My dark little heart delights in that. 

Fultz is questioning the validity of Farley’s report and my eyes are getting a workout from all the rolling. He’s trying to use the fact that a whole year after submitting his report Farley doesn’t recall it perfectly. Dude, these poor cops are filing reports all the time. Shut the eff up Fultz. Good thing I wore big girl shoes and not slides because I’d wanna chuck it at him. 

1:36 Fultz approaches the stand with the report in hand. He asks about the clarified report. Farley initially filed his report on July 9, and on Aug 6th he reached out to ISP to make clarifications. Fultz notes that Grayson was indicted on July 17th (honestly I don’t know what this has to do with the price of eggs in China because making clarifications to reports is not new, nor is it out of the ordinary especially with such a highly publicized case, because absolute accuracy is paramount and after the shock and adrenaline dies down it’s easier to remove emotion from the memories of what happened.) 

Fultz states that Farley had two months of probation left and decided to go to ISP to make clarifications to “mistakes” in his initial report

It’s basically a fishing expedition because he has no further questions. Milhiser has declined redirect (there’s really no need) 

Breaktime and then the footage will be viewed. Sonya’s cousin (I’ve learned her name is Sontae) has returned and bless her heart you can see she is trying to put on a brave face for her family. I want to say this family from what I’ve seen since day one has been graciously passionate. They want justice for Sonya, but they have gone about seeking this justice while still asking the public to keep rallies peaceful, and you can just see that Sonya may have had her struggles with her mental health, but she was loved. I would love to interview them one day for my future journalism course, but I also want to respect the privacy that they have all but sacrificed since July of 2024. 

Okay, so at 2:04 the jury returns and now we watch the footage recorded by Deputy Farley’s body cam. Grayson’s face is stoic. The mood in the courtroom is somber. Grayson is fidgeting, leaning forward and looking at his hands in his lap. The previous laidback and relaxed demeanor he had is gone. 

Once the video gets to the part where he yells at Massey to drop the water Grayson no longer watches. Massey’s family is visibly affected and as Farley holds the towel to Sonya’s gunshot wound sounds of crying increase, and tissues are given to the jury. There is only one man who is a person of color on the jury and he could not bring himself to watch the whole video. 

When I first watched the bodycam footage I noticed Farley’s shaking hands, and the footage today also clearly indicates this moment as he had described while on the stand.  Sonya’s mother, Donna has her head buried and eyes covered and it sounds as if she or someone in the family is sobbing quietly. Sontae and others have walked in with red rimmed eyes while Grayson is now staring directly at the floor. 

As the body-cam footage shifts to Grayson’s point of view his family is not watching the footage and Grayson leans even further forward. Grayson and his family’s postures are hunched. This does not look good for Grayson, especially when the footage gets to the point where Grayson says, “I’m not even going to waste my med stuff then,” as he drops the med bag on the floor in the living room. 

The judge sends the jury on a break and Donna Massey openly weeps now. 

At 3:04 pm the now retired department chief Anthony Mayfield takes the stand as the fourth witness.  Mayfield retired in August of 2024 as the Chief Deputy of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office along with the former Sheriff Jack Campbell. In the interim our county coroner Jim Allmon stepped in as interim sheriff until Paula Crouch was appointed in September. 

Milhiser starts with basic background as the previous role as Chief Deputy this includes his responsibilities. Mayfield determined that Grayson violated policies. This includes Use of Force Violation, standard conduct, activation of body-worn camera and medical response violations. (I should note that previous violations are not being included in testimony for the trial. This is all pertaining to July 6th) 

No cross and that’s a wrap for the day. Court convenes tomorrow at 9:00 am