Crime & Law

Gov. J.B. Pritzker Calls On Sangamon County Sheriff to Resign in Wake of Sonya Massey Shooting

In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police on Monday, July 22, 2024, former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, left, points his gun at Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help, before shooting and killing her inside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. (Illinois State Police via AP)

A month after a downstate sheriff’s deputy killed a Black woman in her home, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton are calling for the resignation of Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Cambell.

“I called for the Sheriff’s resignation, because the sheriff has failed,” Pritzker said Wednesday.

Sonya Massey, 36, had called 911 on suspicion of an intruder. One of the responding officers, sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, shot her three times after Massey, at his instruction, went to the stove to deal with a boiling pot of water.

He fired after Massey twice said to him “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

Massey died from a shot to the face, and Grayson is facing murder charges.

In a sheriff department’s case file publicly released this week, Grayson wrote that that he feared for his life and safety.

Massey’s death has spurred protests, and calls from her family that Campbell resign for hiring Grayson in the first place, given that records show Grayson had been citing for driving under the influence and that he had received critical reviews while working at five other law enforcement agencies in a three-year span.

In an Aug. 2 interview as part of a story by the Invisible Institute, Illinois Public Media and the Illinois Times, Campbell defended his department’s vetting of Grayson. A day earlier, Pritzker questioned how Sangamon County hired Grayson, but stopped short of calling for Campbell to resign.

“How did the sheriff end up hiring this person? Must have known their background, must have,” he said Tuesday. “And so I have a lot of questions, and I’m so far disappointed with the answer that I’m hearing from the sheriff.”

As first reported by the Capitol Fax blog, Pritzker and Stratton on Tuesday night issued a joint statement in which they called for Campbell’s ousting. Pritzker elaborated on his updated viewpoint in response to questions from reporters following an unrelated news conference Wednesday.

The Democratic governor said Campbell hasn’t explained how and why he hired Grasyon.

“He failed to put forward reforms that clearly need to be made. Training, and other reforms,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker also faulted Grayson for not meeting with Massey’s family, calling it “outrageous” they hadn’t talked.

“At a minimum, listen to them, hear them, and then hopefully, take action,” he said.

In a statement, Campbell said that he had tried four times to meet with Massey’s relatives, but his “requests have been rejected or not accepted. I am still willing to meet with the family.”

The Sangamon County Sheriff's Office did not respond Wednesday to WTTW News’ request for comment, but in the statement posted on the CapitolFax blog, Campbell indicated he would not heed calls to leave.

“I was overwhelmingly elected to lead the Sheriff’s Office through good times and bad,” Campbell wrote. “I am fully prepared to continue leading my office and serving the residents of Sangamon County through this difficult period, ensuring we learn from this tragedy and work toward a better future.”

Campbell also indicated that to solve the problem of weeding out officer applicants with problematic records, the state should get involved with improving hiring procedures for law enforcement agencies.

“We have used a process that we believe was consistent with statewide standards,” Campbell’s statement reads. “If these standards are deficient, we would advocate a change at all necessary levels.”

Pritzker previously met with Massey’s relatives, and said they discussed ideas about future changes.

“We have to do more to protect people,” Pritzker said Wednesday, without getting into details about ideas that came up or that he is considering.

According to reporting by Chicago Public Media, at her funeral, Massey’s father asked for legislation that would prevent law enforcement agents fired from a police department from getting hired by another one.

Pritzker has credited the Illinois State Police with conducting a swift investigation into the incident, which led the Sangamon County State’s Attorney to charge Grayson for murder.

“Maybe the silver lining, if there is a silver lining in this, is that someone is being held accountable,” Pritzker said, noting that in the past there likely would not have been body cameras or an investigation.

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