The citizen commission working on racial justice and reconciliation in the wake of the 2024 death of Sonya Massey won’t be restricted in its activities by the judge presiding in the murder case against Massey’s alleged killer.
That’s because Mark Wykoff, one of the attorneys for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, accused of murdering Massey in her home a year ago, withdrew a request to force the Massey Commission to “cease and desist” its activities in Peoria County.
The withdrawal took place at a hearing July 25 in front of Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Ryan Cadagin.
Grayson, 31, of Riverton, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 6, 2024, killing of Sonya Massey, 36, in unincorporated Woodside Township. Grayson has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 20.
The trial was moved from Springfield to Peoria at the request of Grayson’s attorneys because of pretrial publicity.
Jurors in the trial will be Peoria County residents, though the case will be prosecuted by the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office, Grayson will continue to be represented by Springfield lawyers Wykoff and Dan Fultz, and Cadagin will continue to preside as judge.
Wykoff asked for the cease-and-desist order in a July 23 filing that alleged the commission, funded with about $250,000 from Sangamon County government, was “meddling in the impartial jury pool of Peoria County.”
Wykoff pointed to an advertised “Sonya Massey Town Hall” on June 12 in Peoria that was covered by the news media there. A flyer produced by the nonprofit group Change Peoria said the event was hosted by Change Peoria and the Massey Commission.
Wykoff and Fultz said in court documents that they would be forced to seek another change of venue “that has not been jaundiced by the affirmative actions of the commission” if the court didn’t intervene.
However, the commission said in a news release July 24 that it didn’t vote to sponsor or endorse the event, and the flyer and other promotional materials weren’t approved or reviewed by the commission.
The release said the commission “fully endorses the idea of educating our community and remains true to the values of transparency, accountability, community and unity.”
Springfield resident Sontae Massey, 54, a cousin of Sonya Massey, said he spoke at the event in Peoria as a Massey family member but not on behalf of the commission. Sontae Massey is a former member of the commission and now is a paid member of the commission’s staff.
Cadagin allowed Wykoff to withdraw the cease-and-desist request and granted Wykoff’s requestto throw out a related filing by commission member Calvin T. Christian III in opposition to the proposed cease-and-desist order. Fellow commission members Sunshine Clemons, Susan Phillips, Breonna Roberts and Robert Wesley joined Christian in the filing.
Cadagin said Wykoff’s withdrawal rendered Christian’s filing moot.
When asked why he withdrew the original request, Wykoff told Illinois Times, “Sometimes matters resolve themselves before the need to seek court intervention.”
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Cadagin scheduled a Sept. 12 hearing to consider other pretrial motions from Grayson’s attorneys, including one to admit evidence at the trial about Sonya Massey’s mental state.
Authorities have said Massey was dealing with mental illness, and Grayson’s lawyers contended that Massey’s “propensity for violence” will be part of their argument that Grayson acted in self-defense when he fired shots at Massey, including one to the head that produced a fatal injury, after Massey called 911 to summon police to her home when she feared a prowler in the neighborhood.
Grayson’s lawyers noted in documents that earlier in the same day of the shooting, Massey is “alleged to have battered/assaulted a neighbor with a brick,” and she “had been in a dispute the day prior in reference to a car window being broke.” Massey was never charged in connection with those alleged incidents.
In a nationally publicized case with racial overtones, Grayson, who is white, told police he feared for his life and shot Massey, a Black single mother of two teenagers, when he thought Massey was about to throw a pot of heated water in his direction.
Prosecutors have said police-worn body camera video of the incident makes it clear that Grayson overreacted and showed “disregard for human life.”
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Grayson, who previously had been held at the Macon County Jail in Decatur, was transferred to the Sangamon County Jail on July 23. The transfer, according to a statement from Sangamon County Sheriff Paula Crouch, was necessary “to accommodate ongoing medical procedures and follow-up appointments that, due to operational needs of the Sheriff’s Office, require him to be housed in Springfield.”
Crouch said Grayson, who according to Fultz was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in October 2023, “will be housed in a secure unit” within the Sangamon jail and is expected to remain at the jail until his trial.
Sontae Massey said the Massey family is looking forward to justice being served through Grayson’s trial. And Massey said the family hopes there will be cameras in the courtroom in Peoria to help inform the public with video and photographs and make sure the legal system is held accountable.
Cadagin so far has turned down all requests from the media to allow cameras in the courtroom for hearings leading up to the trial. The judge hasn’t given any explanation for his position and hasn’t indicated whether his position will change.
Sontae Massey said the trial needs nationwide exposure.
“We want to make sure that justice is served, and when there are not spotlights on, there is a tendency of not receiving justice,” he said. “So we definitely want cameras in the courtroom.”
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This article appears in Repeat offender and July 24-30, 2025.
