A former Illinois deputy is sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing Sonya Massey

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting Sonya Massey, who had dialed 911 to report a possible prowler outside her Springfield home.

Sean Grayson, 31, was convicted in October in a police brutality case that prompted protests over systemic racism and led to a U.S. Department of Justice inquiry. Grayson, who is white, received the maximum possible sentence. He has been incarcerated since he was charged in the killing.

He apologized during the sentencing, saying he wished he could bring Massey back and spare her family the pain he caused. His attorney had asked for a sentence of six years, noting that Grayson has late stage colon cancer that has spread to his liver and lungs.

“I made a lot of mistakes that night. There were points when I should’ve acted, and I didn’t. I froze,” he said during the hearing. “I made terrible decisions that night. I’m sorry.”

Massey’s parents and two children — who lobbied for the maximum sentence — said their lives had changed dramatically since the killing. Her two children said they had to grow up without a mother, while Massey’s mother said she lived in fear. They asked the judge to carry out justice in her name.

“Today, I’m afraid to call the police in fear that I might end up like Sonya,” her mother Donna Massey said during the hearing.

Grayson’s attorneys had pushed for a new trial, which Judge Ryan Cadigan dismissed at the start of the hearing.

In calling for the maximum prison term, State’s Attorney John Milhiser argued that Massey would still be alive if the police department had sent someone else to respond.

“Sonya Massey’s death rocked her family, but it rocked the community, it rocked the country,” State’s Attorney John Milhiser said. “We have to do whatever we can to ensure it never happens again.”

When the judge read the sentence, the family reacted with a loud cheer: “Yes!” The judge admonished them.

After the hearing, Massey’s relatives thanked the public for the support and listening to their stories about Massey.

“Twenty years is not enough,” her daughter Summer told reporters.