SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — We are covering the trial of Sean Grayson for the murder of Sonya Massey in July 2024. Day three will include opening statements from the Defense and the State. Follow along here for live updates straight from the courtroom.
Oct. 22
2:38 p.m. Grayson, in the body cam footage: “I’m not even going to waste my med stuff then.” He then drops his med bag on the floor of Sonya Massey’s living room.
2:35 p.m. Sean Grayson is leaning forward, staring straight at the floor. Some of Grayson’s family members are also hunched forward, not watching the footage.
2:32 p.m. We are now watching Sean Grayson’s body-worn camera footage. The jury is passing tissues amongst themselves
2:30 p.m. Five of Sonya Massey’s family members and friends walked back into the courtroom, Sontae Massey with bloodshot eyes. Massey’s mother, Donna Massey, has her head buried, covering her eyes.
2:28 p.m. The body cam footage shows Dep. Farley’s hands were shaking from shock as he described it on the witness stand.
2:27 p.m. Grayson’s family and friends go back and forth between looking at the jury and the footage on the screen. Some look visibly bothered with their hands covering their mouths or eyes averted.
2:24 p.m. The one black individual on the jury has his eyes averted from the screen, visibly bothered.
2:22 p.m. Members of Massey’s family have left the courtroom. Sean Grayson stares straight ahead, glancing at the screen occasionally. Judge Cadagin is looking down and glancing at the door occasionally.
2:20 p.m. Grayson doesn’t watch any of the footage playing after he yells at Massey to drop the pot of water. Members of the Massey family are crying while watching the footage of Dep. Farley holding a rag to Massey’s gunshot wounds.
2:15 p.m. Grayson is hunched forward, resting his chin on his clasped hands, looking at the ground and up at the screen.
2:12 p.m. Grayson has yawned several times while viewing the footage. He’s now leaning forward and looking down at his lap.
2:09 p.m. The jury is watching the footage with laser focus. The courtroom is silent besides the audio from the footage.
2:04 p.m. The jury is re-entering the courtroom. We will now be watching the footage recorded by Dep. Farley’s body-worn camera. Grayson is looking at the jury with a straight face.
1:51 p.m. Sontae Massey, Sonya’s cousin, tells his family during the break “I done did a lot of crying, I’m going to be okay.”
1:50 p.m. Sean Grayson has returned to the courtroom and shared a smile with his family in the gallery.
1:49 p.m. Fultz has finished questioning; Milhiser did not want to redirect. We are now on a short break.
1:48 p.m. Fultz emphasizes the fact that Dep. Farley had two months of probation left and decided to go to ISP to clarify what Farley says are ‘mistakes’ in his initial report.
1:41 p.m. Fultz is questioning Dep. Farley about his clarified report. Farley filed his initial report on July 9th. He reached out to ISP to clarify his report on August 6th. Fultz points out the fact that Sean Grayson was indicted on July 17th, between the two reports.
1:36 p.m. Fultz approaches Dep. Farley with his report. Sean Grayson is fidgeting in his chair, eyes transfixed on Dep. Farley.
1:34 p.m. Fultz is asking Dep. Farley about the validity of his report and whether he saw or heard water running. Fultz: “What clarification are you trying to put in if you don’t remember your report?”
1:31 p.m. Fultz is now cross-examining Dep. Farley.
1:30 p.m. Dep. Farley clarified in his written report that the fear he felt and the reason he drew his firearm was from Grayson’s actions, nothing that Massey did. Dep. Farley: “I just wanted to do right by Sonya and her family.”
1:29 p.m. Dep. Farley emphasized that he was not scared or nervous about anything Massey did or thought that she would hurt him. She did not alarm him.
1:28 p.m. Dep. Farley grabbed a dish towel and applied pressure to Massey’s gunshot wound to stop the bleeding.
1:26 p.m. Farley tried to run back to the doorway to tell dispatch that shots were fired. He came back to the scene, put his firearm away, and attempted to get a medical bag. Grayson said, It’s a headshot, and to not bother getting a bag. Farley was caught off guard by Grayson’s comment.
1:25 p.m. Farley saw Sonya Massey duck behind the counter. Grayson stepped in front of Farley– they are trained not to step in front of their partner when weapons are drawn. He heard Grayson say “drop” and heard the shots fired.
1:22 p.m. Dep. Farley saw Grayson draw his firearm and point it at Massey. Farley pulled his firearm, too, following his training and backing his partner. Farley did not see or hear anything that required him to draw his firearm.
1:22 p.m. Milhiser: “What’d you think when Sonya Massey said ‘I rebuke you in the name of Jesus?’ Farley states confusion, and did not see Massey’s comment as a threat.
1:21 p.m. Sonya Massey’s cousin has walked out of the courtroom, crying.
1:19 p.m. Dep. Farley has given us an extensive recount of what happened the morning Sonya Massey was shot. Farley: “When the door was opened, the female [Massey] stated, ‘Please, don’t hurt me.’”
1:08 p.m. Dep. Farley has described his relationship with Grayson as a ‘work friendship.’ Grayson listens intently to Dep. Farley’s answers.
1:06 p.m. Deputy Dawson Farley is the third witness called by the State. Deputy Farley was the deputy with Grayson the night he shot and killed Sonya Massey. Milhiser questions him.
11:09 a.m. Rodgers approaches the stand and hands Barton the recording of the 911 call. The 911 call plays in court. There is no cross-examination. Court will break for lunch until 1 p.m.
11:08 a.m. Sonya Massey called and had Massey give her the address. Barton: “It sounded like there was someone outside the residence making noise on the side of the house.” The call with Massey was ultimately disconnected.
11:04 a.m. Rodgers: “What call type is a prowler?” Barton: “A prowler is a call that you would label a suspicious person after dark, someone who is not where they are supposed to be.”
11:00 a.m. Mary Beth Rodgers, Assistant State’s Attorney, is asking Barton to explain how dispatching works.
10:56 a.m. The next witness is Kathryn Barton, a Sangamon County Dispatcher.
10:54 a.m. Break is over. The jury has re-entered the courtroom. Grayson stands with his hands clasped behind his back.
10:37 a.m. Milhiser clarifies that not all officer-involved shooting cases are criminal cases; Lt. Weston agrees. We will be taking a break. Sean Grayson was escorted out of the courtroom without handcuffs.
10:35 a.m. Wykoff has no further questions. Milhiser has redirect questions for Lt. Weston.
10:33 a.m. Lt. Weston claimed that his team does not collect the pot Massey had– Wykoff claims the pot was a weapon. ISP collected the pot two weeks after the initial incident on July 6.
10:32 a.m. Wykoff circles back to the fact that upon initial search of the crime scene, only two bullet casings were collected. Once Lt. Weston watched the body cam footage, his team realized that three shots were deployed and returned to the crime scene 48 hours later to collect the third.
10:29 a.m. Wykoff emphasizes that Lt. Weston’s role is to provide an unclouded, clinically neutral, dispassionate point of view to the investigation.
10:23 a.m. Milhiser objected to one of Wykoff’s questions about Lt. Weston forming assumptions on the case based on watching Grayson’s body-cam footage. Wykoff rephrased his question, and the previous question was struck from the court record.
10:19 a.m. Wykoff walks over to Grayson to pat him on the back while talking about Grayson’s body-worn camera and how it ‘memorialized’ the incident. Lt. Weston said he would not use the term ‘memorialized’ but that it ‘recorded’ parts of the incident.
10:16 a.m. Wykoff is illuminating that Lt. Weston isn’t fully present for the investigation; he is only the supervisor and is trying to get a clearer picture of his entire investigation team.
10:12 a.m. Grayson has crossed his legs and is watching Wykoff question Lt. Weston intently. He is taking notes while Lt. Weston speaks.
10:08 a.m. Mark Wykoff, Grayson’s defense attorney, is now cross-examining Lt. Weston.
10:07 a.m. The investigation Lt. Weston conducted was “all hands on deck” —he called in all the agents in his office to work on it.
10:05 a.m. Lieutenant Weston tells the jury that Grayson worked in six different departments from 2020 to 2024, and some of the employment dates overlap.
10:04 a.m. Milhiser approaches Lieutenant Weston and hands him a sheet containing information about Grayson’s training and employment history. Grayson had Crisis Intervention Training. He took the course in March 2023. Grayson started as a part-time officer in August 2020.
10:00 a.m. After watching the body cam footage, Lieutenant Weston couldn’t make up his mind on whether Grayson’s actions were justified and said he needed to tell the State’s Attorney, Milhiser, immediately.
9:55 a.m. Lieutenant Weston shares that officers in an officer-involved shooting are required to go to the hospital to undergo a general check. A crime scene officer went to the hospital that morning to meet with Grayson and Deputy Dawson Farley to pick up their body cameras.
9:47 a.m. Lieutenant Weston has been involved in directly supervising the investigation of more than a dozen officer-involved shootings.
9:44 a.m. The first witness has been called to the stand, Lieutenant Eric Weston, ISP Criminal Investigations Zone 4. Milhiser is questioning him.
9:31 a.m. Grayson is standing and chatting with his team and the courtroom security.
9:25 a.m. There will be a fifteen-minute break before the first witness.
9:25 a.m. Fultz: “What happened to Ms Massey was a tragedy, but it was not a crime.”
9:24 a.m Fultz: “The evidence will show, even though his orders were firm, unequivocal, and repeated, Ms Massey made the decision to lift the pot of boiling water over her head and throw it at Deputy Grayson. It was only at that moment that Deputy Grayson discharged his weapon.”
9:22 a.m. Fultz: “Grayson believed he would suffer great bodily harm from the boiling pot of water.”
9:21 a.m. Grayson crosses his legs and watches Fultz address the jury.
9:20 a.m. Fultz: “There is no crime if you decide the shooting was lawful.”
9:18 a.m. Fultz explains to the jury that the State will present its evidence first throughout the trial and asks the jury to wait to hear the defense’s argument before forming an opinion.
9:16 a.m. Daniel Fultz, Grayson’s defense attorney, now presents the Defense’s opening statement.
9:16 a.m. Milhiser: “It will be clear that the defendant, without lawful justification, in the home of Sonya Massey, shot and killed her. He did not follow training, he did not follow policies, and is guilty of first-degree murder.”
9:15 a.m. Milhiser tells the jury that they will hear from the deputy who accompanied Grayson the night of Massey’s killing, and a doctor who will explain how Massey died of a single gunshot wound to the face
9:13 a.m. Milhiser goes over the three charges of first-degree murder and how they differ. 1) Intending to kill 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 Massey.
9:10 a.m. Milhiser is providing the timeline of the day Sonya Massey was shot and killed to the jury. He tells the jury that Sean Grayson didn’t turn on his body camera, ignoring policing standards. Something Milhiser says is a trend in Grayson’s behavior.
9:07 a.m. John Milhiser, Sangamon County State’s Attorney, is presenting the State’s opening statement.
9:02 a.m. The jury is entering the courtroom.
9:01 a.m. Judge Cadagin has entered the courtroom. Sean Grayson said good morning to Judge Cadagin.
9:00 a.m. Sonya Massey’s father, James Wilburn, has entered the courtroom and taken a seat in the gallery.
8:54 a.m. Nine of Sean Grayson’s family and friends have been seated in the courtroom gallery behind the media. Grayson turned around to greet them with a smile and a nod.
8:53 a.m. Thirteen of Sonya Massey’s family and friends are being seated in the courtroom gallery behind the media.
8:46 a.m. Sean Grayson and his defense attorney, Mark Wykoff, have switched seats. Grayson chats and smiles with his team.
8:41 a.m. We have entered the courtroom. Sean Grayson is wearing a black suit with a black-and-gray patterned tie. He’s watching the media intently
8:36 a.m. Sonya Massey’s family has arrived at the courthouse before 8 a.m., including her mom, Donna Massey, her aunt, Ramona Massey, and several others.
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