CHICAGO – Former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson was denied medical release Friday, July 31, 2026, by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and will remain in prison serving his sentence for the 2024 killing of Sonya Massey, according to the board’s decision following a hearing in Chicago.
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Grayson had petitioned for release under Illinois’ Medical Release Act after being diagnosed with cancer. He was convicted of second-degree murder in October 2025 in Massey’s fatal shooting and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Prisoner Review Board said a three-member panel heard testimony and victim impact statements during Friday’s hearing before deliberating in closed session. The panel ultimately denied the request. Gov. JB Pritzker later said the board voted 3-0 against the petition.
“Sonya Massey’s family and loved ones remain in my thoughts today,” Pritzker said in a statement released after the decision. “Her killing was a profound loss that can never be reversed. Sonya was innocent, unarmed, and calling law enforcement for help. It was a painful reminder that too many innocent Black Americans have faced this kind of violence — and they deserve justice.”
Pritzker said the state’s justice system seeks “accountability and fairness” and that the Prisoner Review Board follows “careful and deliberate processes, in accordance with the Joe Coleman Act, to consider medical release requests while enabling the victims of crime and their families to have their voices heard.”
He also pointed to legislation he signed “in her memory last year” to revise police hiring practices across Illinois.
“My administration will always fight for a more just society where we achieve accountability and equal treatment under the law,” Pritzker said. “That’s why I signed the Sonya Massey Bill in her memory last year to revise and improve police hiring practices across Illinois. The law increases policy accountability across the state and is designed to help prevent future tragedies such as this one.”
“May Sonya Massey’s memory and lasting legacy continue to be a blessing,” he said.
