Sean Grayson Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Killing Sonya Massey

Sean Grayson, a former sheriff's deputy in Illinois, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for shooting Sonya Massey at her house after she called police to report an intruder in 2024.

Grayson was convicted of second-degree murder in October in the shooting death of Massey ... he and another Sangamon County sheriff's deputy responded to the woman's residence in July 2024 on a report of a prowler. In an escalating verbal dispute, he shot her three times in the face, and the whole interaction was recorded on body cam.

Grayson will get credit for time already served awaiting trial. He was additionally sentenced to two years of supervised probation tacked onto the end of his sentence, Springfield's WICS-TV reports.

Massey called 911 to report a possible intruder at her home in Springfield, Illinois -- about 200 miles south of Chicago -- on July 6, 2024.

Grayson and his partner responded to the call. He claimed he thought Massey threatened to throw a pot of boiling water at him. Massey's family retained Ben Crump as a lawyer, who's previously represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Grayson expressed remorse for the shooting during his hearing Thursday, ... "I wish there was something I could do to bring her back. I wish this didn’t happen. I wish they [Massey's family] didn’t have to go through this experience. I am very sorry."

Grayson's defense team filed for a retrial last November, according to WAND-TV ... but the motion was denied.