A three-member Illinois Prisoner Review Board panel on Friday unanimously denied a request from former sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson to be released from prison early for medical reasons.
Grayson maintained in his petition for medical release that Sonya Massey attacked him with a boiling pot of water before he fatally shot her in her Springfield home in July 2024.
Grayson was sentenced to 20 years in prison in January for his second-degree murder conviction.
Documents show an Illinois Department of Corrections medical evaluation determined that Grayson is likely to die from colon cancer within 18 months. Grayson and his attorneys were not present in the non-public hearing.
Members of Massey’s family spoke in opposition to early release. In a letter opposing Grayson’s early release, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said, “Grayson had cancer when he committed this murder and his medical condition was explicitly considered at sentencing,” and “to release Grayson under these circumstances would be a miscarriage of justice and an insult to Sonya Massey’s memory and family.”
With the request denied, Grayson will remain in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections to continue serving his 20-year sentence for second-degree murder in the 2024 killing of Sonya Massey.
