Sean Grayson’s murder conviction for the 2024 shooting death of Sonya Massey will remain on the books after his death after all.
The Illinois Appellate Court’s Springfield-based 4th District on Oct. 13 dismissed Grayson’s appeal of his October 2025 second-degree murder conviction, citing the fact that Grayson’s Aug. 23 death made the appeal moot.
An initial filing in September by Grayson’s lawyers after Grayson’s death from cancer while in the custody of Rhode Island officials as part of an agreement with the Illinois Department of Corrections asked that Grayson’s conviction be thrown out because of a legal doctrine known as “abatement ab initio.”
The next day, however, lawyers for the 32-year-old former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy moved to withdraw the motion and said they wanted to refile it, along with other legal documents with a copy of Grayson’s death certificate, at a later date.
Grayson’s attorneys, Dan Fultz and Mark Wykoff, never renewed their motion. Fultz declined comment when contacted by Illinois Times.
Fultz and Wykoff previously argued in writing to the court that abatement of Grayson’s conviction was justified in this instance because a criminal conviction isn’t considered final until the merits of a defendant’s appeal are decided.
The Appellate Court then granted a motion filed Sept. 11 by State’s Attorney John Milhiser and David Robinson of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office to dismiss Grayson’s appeal.
Milhiser and Robinson included in their filing a copy of the Rhode Island death certificate in which Medical Examiner Dr. Marius Tarau listed Grayson’s cause of death as “complications of colorectal cancer.”
Milhiser declined comment on the filing.
Family members of Massey, as well as supporters of the family, said they were upset by the prospect of Grayson’s conviction going away, even after his death.
The death of Massey, 36, a Black woman who was unarmed when she was shot and killed by Grayson, a white law-enforcement officer, in her unincorporated Woodside Township home after a verbal confrontation with the deputy, spawned protests locally and in other parts of the country.
Publicity surrounding the case also led to Illinois lawmakers passing a law aimed at improving background checks for police officers.
