Sonya Massey did not have to die. She was in the midst of a mental health crisis, and instead of helping her, Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson decided to take her life by shooting her in the head. After the incident, it was revealed that Grayson had been discharged from six different police departments since 2020 and was discharged from five of them for various forms of misconduct, including inappropriate conduct with an inmate and reckless high-speed chases. Additionally, Grayson has two DUI convictions on his record from his time in the Army where he was discharged for “serious misconduct.”
At this time, Grayson is sitting in jail rotting while he awaits trial for Massey’s first-degree murder and several other charges related to that night. Long story short, if SCSO had done their due diligence, they would have known that this guy was trash before they ordained him with a gun and badge.
Source: Scott Olson / Getty
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed the Sonya Massey bill into law that completely overhauls the hiring process for law enforcement officers statewide. Agencies will now be required to do comprehensive reviews of candidates’ previous employment history before submitting them an offer. The Massey family feels that a system like this could have prevented Sonya’s death at the hands of an officer who had more red flags than the country of Denmark.
“When Sonya Massey feared for her safety, she did what anyone would do: she called for help,” Pritzker said at Tuesday’s bill signing. “That became a death sentence for her.
“Unfortunately, what happened to Sonya is not an isolated incident in America,” Pritzker added. “So what we do today should serve as an example across the nation, for other states and jurisdictions. Each and every one of these incidents is a preventable tragedy and a moral strain.”
Source: Scott Olson / Getty
Several members of Sonya’s family were in attendance at the bill signing, including her son, Malachi Hill.
“I miss my mom every single day, like every day, and it hurts that she’s not here with me, but I am very happy that we can also get a bill put in her name, and her name can live on for forever.”
One of the bill’s sponsors is not only a politician, but a close friend to the family, State Sen. Doris Turner.
“I will tell you unequivocally, in my 25 years of elected office, this is the least political thing I have ever done, but it’s the most important thing I have ever done,”
We hope and pray that there never needs to be another bill signed with a dead Black person’s name attached.
