Family of Sonya Massey holding rally in Chicago in response to police union grievance
CHICAGO (CBS) —The family of Sonya Massey will hold a rally in Chicago on Tuesday in her honor as they seek justice in her death.
The Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and other activists are expected to hold a media conference at 4:15 p.m. before the rally.
The family will gather at the New Mount Pilgrim Church on Washington Boulevard.
They plan to address a recent grievance filed by the union representing Sangamon County Sheriff's deputies. The union is asking that the deputy who killed Sonya Massey be reinstated and reimbursed for any lost wages.
Massey's family continues to seek answers following the release of bodycam footage one week ago. Deputy Sean Grayson had been one of two Sangamon County Sheriff's deputies to respond to Massey's house when she called 911 to report a prowler.
The footage showed Grayson shot Massey in the head as she crouched down in her kitchen—after he ordered her to drop a pot of water that had been on the stove.
Grayson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty.
Sean Grayson's employment history in question
Questions have been swirling about why Grayson was hired by law enforcement agencies multiple times.
One of the incidents in which Grayson is accused of having trouble obeying orders happened during his fifth police job, with the Logan County Sheriff's Office—where he worked from May 2022 to April 2023.
Even before Grayson was hired by Logan County, there were warnings from another past employer—the Auburn Police Department—where Grayson worked in 2022.
CBS News obtained notes from the Auburn police chief to a representative in Logan County about Grayson's prospective employment there. The notes state Grayson "struggles with report writing", Grayson was "very aggressive with getting drugs."
The chief "expressed concern" that Grayson "was too aggressive," and that Grayson "posted his drug arrests on Facebook," and the chief called him a "bragger" and he was not "great with evidence left items laying around office."
