In a strongly worded public rebuke of another elected government official in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton have called on a downstate sheriff to resign over his handling of the death of Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed by one of his deputies.
The state’s Democratic leaders said Republican Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell “should have taken his leadership role more seriously” in a release issued several hours after the governor said he was “disappointed” at the answers Campbell had given as to why the deputy who killed Massey was hired.
“To date, Sheriff Campbell has yet to even meet with the Massey family. The refusal to meet with a grieving family face to face when one of your Sheriff’s Deputies killed their innocent mother, sister and daughter is inexcusable. Rather than waiting for others to propose reform of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Campbell should have taken his leadership role more seriously,” Pritzker and Stratton said in their joint statement.
The statement said Campbell has had “ample opportunity to respond with conviction and purpose to questions” about his hiring of Deputy Sean Grayson, who was fired over the Massey killing and has been charged with murder.
Pritzker and Stratton noted that they had met with Massey’s family and “made a commitment to support them in working for justice.”
“We join the Massey family in calling for Sheriff Campbell’s resignation immediately so the Springfield and Sangamon County community can begin to rebuild and restore trust between citizens and the sheriff’s department. We will continue to keep the Massey family in our prayers,” the statement said.
Campbell issued a lengthy response Wednesday morning reiterating his determination to stay in office and questioning the motivation behind calls for him to step down.
“Calls for my resignation are nothing more than political maneuvering during a tragic event and only hurt the good citizens of Sangamon County,” Campbell said.
“I was overwhelmingly elected to lead the Sheriff’s Office through both good times and bad. 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 said he has made four requests to meet with the Massey family through intermediaries, but those requests have been “rejected or not accepted.”
Without being specific, Campbell also indicated that his office thinks the shooting was wrong. ” All employees of the Sheriff’s Office feel betrayed by one of their own,” he said. “The one responsible is in jail and will never work in law enforcement again.”
Massey’s killing has led to protests in Springfield, Chicago and across the country and renewed a national conversation over the use of deadly force by police against Black people.
The Sangamon County sheriff’s office was the sixth Illinois police department Grayson had worked for in less than four years. Before he went into law enforcement, Grayson had two DUIs on his record in nearby Macoupin County.
Records show before the Sangamon County sheriff’s office hired Grayson last year, the office spoke with some of the law enforcement agencies that previously employed him and those agencies questioned his abilities as an officer, saying he needed more training.
Grayson was dating the daughter of one of his references, a former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who spoke positively of him.
In statements released last week, Campbell defended the process for hiring Grayson and downplayed comments from previous employers saying Grayson “needed more training.”
“This is not unusual for deputies with Grayson’s experience, and is standard procedure for Sangamon County deputies,” Campbell said. “Grayson was subsequently sent to a 16-week academy training, a requirement for all new and lateral transfer deputies in our office.”
In his statement on Wednesday, Campbell said his office “is willing to modify our hiring practices in order to prevent an incident like this from occurring again.”
“We have used a process that we believe was consistent with statewide standards. If these standards are deficient, we would advocate a change at all necessary levels,” he said.
Deputies on July 6 responded to a 911 call about a possible prowler outside Massey’s home in an unincorporated area outside of Springfield. When Grayson, who is white, and another deputy officer arrived, Massey, who was Black, took a few minutes to answer the door and appeared confused. Her family has said she had mental health issues.
The two officers said they didn’t find anyone around her home. Inside, a conversation ensued over a pot of boiling water on Massey’s stove.
According to body camera footage, Massey said, “Oh, I’ll rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” before Grayson angrily replied, “You better (expletive) not. I swear to God. I’ll (expletive) shoot you right in your (expletive) face.”
Grayson then demanded that Massey drop the pot before shooting her. The Sangamon County coroner’s office said she died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Grayson was ordered held in custody about two weeks after the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.
In 2021, Pritzker signed into law a sweeping criminal justice reform measure, known as the SAFE-T Act, which included a provision meant to improve the state’s police officer decertification process. While there’s no indication the law will be changed further in light of Massey’s killing, Illinois legislative leaders have indicated they’re open to proposals.
At an unrelated news conference Wednesday, Pritzker praised the Illinois State Police “who did the investigation (of Massey’s shooting) in a very short 10 days.”
“Maybe the silver lining, if there is a silver lining in this, is that someone is being held accountable, and yet we have much more to do,” he said.
