Illinois Prisoner Review Board denies Grayson early medical release
The PRB’s vote was unanimous.
SPRINGFIELD, IL — The former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy convicted of murdering Sonya Massey in 2024 will stay in prison.
The three-person Illinois Prisoner Review Board panel voted unanimously July 31 to deny Sean P. Grayson’s request for medical release.
While Massey family members said while they were overjoyed and thankful for the panel’s decision, they were also vigilant.
Grayson’s court case is now with the Fourth District Appellate Court, but he can also re-file for his case to be heard again by the PRB.
“I’m very grateful for the outcome today,” said Sontae Massey, Sonya Massey’s cousin, at a press conference at the 1908 Visions Building in Springfield. “Having said that, we know we have an uphill battle. We know he can turn right around and file again today.”
Sontae Massey was one of four family members who spoke before the 45-minute session at the PRB building on the city’s near north side. The others were Sonya Massey’s parents, James Wilburn and Donna Massey, and her son, Malachi Hill-Massey.
The three members — Rodger Heaton, Robin Shoffner and Jared Bohland — deliberated for about 12 minutes before announcing their decision.
Another 50 to 75 members of Massey’s family, members of The PURPLE (People United to Reform Power, Liberty and Equity) Coalition and other supporters packed into the hearing room. Many wore purple, Massey’s favorite color.
Supporters holding “Justice for Sonya Massey” signs lined Walnut Street.
Grayson was convicted on Oct. 29, 2025, of fatally shooting Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and the mother of two children.
Massey was shot inside her home in the Cabbage Patch neighborhood, an unincorporated area of Sangamon County on July 6, 2024. Grayson was one of two sheriff’s deputies who responded to the 911 call.
The shooting was captured on body-worn cameras.
Grayson is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder by a Peoria County jury in October. He is being held in a facility out-of-state.
The 32-year-old Grayson, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2023 and now has Stage 4 rectal cancer and cancer in his liver and lungs, sought the hearing under a statute enacted in Illinois in 2022 that allows prisoners who have terminal illnesses or advanced medical conditions to apply for release.
Grayson made a pro-se request to the PRB May 18. He was not present in-person or virtually for the hearing.
“We deserve justice,” Sontae Massey told the PRB members, looking back at his family. “Make him serve his sentence.”
Wilburn said Judge Ryan Cadagin took into account Grayson’s medical situation before sentencing.
Wilburn, who lives in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, referred to Grayson as “killer Grayson” and “an animal.”
“I think Sean Grayson should be allowed out of prison when my daughter can get up from that cemetery,” he added.
Asked how she put her address to the PRB together, Donna Massey admitted, “I prayed a lot. Every time we have to go to court, it sends me into a depression of crying. If you look at me when this first happened, you’ll see the difference. I look like hell, warmed over twice.
“I’m tired of crying.”
Teresa Haley of Haley & Associates and Visions 1908 said Grayson “had spread a cancer throughout this community, especially the Black community.”
Cliff Jones, an investigator for civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the Massey family in their settlement with Sangamon County, told reporters that he thought the release of Grayson would be “on the hands of the state of Illinois, and we think they recognized that, which is why their decision is what it is today.”
Gov. JB Pritzker, in a written statement, said that Illinois “is always striving to achieve a justice system rooted in accountability and fairness, which is why the Prisoner Review Board follows careful and deliberate processes, in accordance with the Joe Coleman Act, to consider medical release requests while enabling the victims of crime and their families to have their voices heard.”
Pritzker added that Massey’s “family and loved ones remain in my thoughts today. Her killing was a profound loss that can never be reversed. Sonya was innocent, unarmed, and calling law enforcement for help.”
Last August, Pritzker signed the Sonya Massey Act, that will provide a more comprehensive review of prospective law enforcement officers prior to being hired.
The hiring of Sean Grayson had been called into question, from concerns about his conduct at past police positions to his two DUI convictions before he became a police officer.
Grayson’s application to the PRB noted that he had become “medically incapacitated” following his Jan. 29 sentencing.
The June 9 evaluation of Grayson by the Illinois Department of Corrections said that Grayson’s condition “was likely” to cause death within 18 months and that his medical condition was “irreversible and incurable.”
Grayson chose and was granted a non-public hearing before the PRB. When an applicant selects a non-public hearing, there is no interview or conversation with PRB members. They consider only the application and supporting materials submitted.
(This story has been updated to add new information, new photos and a video.)
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; [email protected]; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
