Previous sexual assault convict whose killing of a nurse led to safety changes sentenced to 50 years

A man previously convicted of sexual assault who killed a Connecticut visiting nurse at a halfway house pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison in a case that reignited calls for better protections for home health care workers across the country.

Michael Reese, 40, admitted that he killed Joyce Grayson on Oct. 28, 2023, at the home in Willimantic where he was living under electronic monitoring while on probation for stabbing and sexually assaulting another woman in 2006. The prison sentence, which mandates no early release or parole, was part of a plea deal.

Grayson, a 63-year-old mother of six and a nurse for 36 years, had gone to the house to administer medication to Reese, who was on probation after having served more than 14 years in prison for the 2006 attack.

Reese, who wore a tan prison suit and a black face mask, did not speak during the hearing at Danielson Superior Court. His lawyers spoke on his behalf, saying he apologizes to Grayson's family and is ashamed of what he did.

Grayson's relatives gave victim impact statements in court, saying the loss of such a beloved family member was devastating and her community lost a person dedicated to helping others.

A lawyer for Grayson's family, Kelly Reardon, said in a statement that no matter how long Reese's prison sentence is, they wouldn't be able to truly heal.

“And they hope that Joyce’s death will continue for years to come to inspire others, including the State of Connecticut, to pass legislation and make significant changes in the way violent offenders are monitored when they are released into our communities and home health nurses are protected from dangerous patients," Reardon said.

Police responded to the halfway house when Grayson’s daughter reported that her mother had missed several appointments later that morning and she could not reach her. She said a phone location app showed her mother was at Reese's address, according to an arrest warrant.

Officers arrested Reese as he exited the rear of the house. Inside, they found Grayson dead in the basement and naked from the waist down except for her socks. The medical examiner's office said she died of compression of the neck and had blunt force injuries. Authorities said there was no DNA evidence of her being sexually assaulted.

In phone calls Reese made in prison that were recorded, he appeared to refer to the murder when he said “it was a robbery gone wrong” and blamed his drug use, according to the arrest warrant.

Reese was charged with murder, felony murder and attempted first-degree sexual assault in April 2024. He had been detained since the day of the killing on drug paraphernalia and larceny charges, with police saying he had a crack cocaine pipe and some of Grayson's belongings on him when he was arrested.

Her death spurred Connecticut legislators last year to approve a new law aimed at improving safety for home health care workers, including providing grants to employers to fund emergency alert buttons, buddy escort systems, tracking devices and safety training.

It also drew comments and social media posts from industry and worker groups across the country, expressing shock and sadness and calling for greater protections for health care workers from increasing violence.

In a national survey of nearly 1,000 nurses released last year by the National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., more than 80% responded that they had experienced at least one type of workplace violence in 2023. Nearly half of them reported an increase in workplace violence over the previous year.

Grayson's husband, Ronald Grayson, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her employer, Elara Caring, its affiliated companies and others. The lawsuit alleges Elara Caring repeatedly ignored workers’ safety concerns about treating dangerous patients, which the company denies. The lawsuit is pending.

In May of last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed $161,000 fine against Elara Caring, saying the company “exposed home healthcare employees to workplace violence from patients who exhibited aggressive behavior and were known to pose a risk to others."

Dallas-based Elara Caring, which provides home care for more than 60,000 patients in 18 states, said it disputed OSHA’s findings. An Elara spokesperson said the company entered remediation with OSHA and reached a resolution but did not provide details.

An OSHA spokesperson said details of what happened with the fine were not available. Online records indicated that the case is still open.

Elara issued a statement about Reese's sentencing, saying, “We continue to grieve Joyce’s loss and are grateful the justice system has delivered accountability through this conviction and sentencing.”

Grayson’s family is also seeking permission to sue the state Judicial Branch, which oversees probation, and the Department of Correction for $25 million in connection with their oversight of Reese. State officials have declined to comment.

Michael Reese, center, stands with his attorneys Michael Miller and Shannon Lazier during his sentencing hearing in Connecticut Superior Court, in Danielson, Conn., on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)

FILE - Reach House, a halfway house for sex offenders where visiting nurse Joyce Grayson was found dead, sits atop a small hill, Nov. 21, 2023, in Willimantic, Conn. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton Robb, File)

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Connecticut Department of Corrections shows Michael Reese, who has been charged with murder and attempted sexual assault in connection with the death of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson. (Connecticut Department of Corrections via AP, File)

FILE - Tracy Wodatch, from Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home, places a candle next to a photo of Joyce Grayson at a vigil for Grayson at the Connecticut Capitol's North Lobby, Nov. 28, 2023, in Hartford, Conn. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.

District Judge Carl J. Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure.

Norwegian company Equinor owns Empire Wind. Spokesperson David Schoetz said they welcome the court's decision and will continue to work in collaboration with authorities. It’s the second developer to prevail in court against the administration this week.

The Trump administration froze five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Trump has targeted offshore wind from his first days back in the White House, most recently calling wind farms “losers” that lose money, destroy the landscape and kill birds.

Developers and states sued seeking to block the order. Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of plans to shift to renewable energy in East Coast states that have limited land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul applauded the court decision, telling reporters the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.”

“When I heard this I said one thing: I’m the governor of New York, if there is a national security threat off the coast of New York, you need to tell me what it is. I want a briefing right now. Well, lo and behold, they had no answer,” she said.

On Monday, a judge ruled that the Danish energy company Orsted could resume its project to serve Rhode Island and Connecticut. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not sufficiently explain the need for a complete stop to construction. That wind farm, called Revolution Wind, is nearly complete. It’s expected to meet roughly 20% of the electricity needs in Rhode Island, the smallest state, and about 5% of Connecticut’s electricity needs.

Orsted is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York, with a hearing still to be set. Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, plans to ask a judge Friday to block the administration’s order so it can resume construction, too.

Trump has also dismissed offshore wind developments as ugly, but the Empire project is about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) offshore and the Sunrise project is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) offshore.

The fifth paused project is Vineyard Wind, under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined the rest of the developers in challenging the administration on Thursday. They filed a complaint in District Court in Boston.

In contrast to the halted action in the U.S., the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading the world in new installations. Nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable. The British government said Wednesday it secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe’s largest offshore wind auction, enough clean electricity to power more than 12 million homes.

Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, said the Trump administration was right to stop construction on national security grounds. He urged officials to immediately appeal the adverse rulings and seek to halt all work pending appellate review. Opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey.

Empire Wind is 60% complete and designed to power more than 500,000 homes. Equinor said the project was in jeopardy due to the limited availability of specialized vessels, as well as heavy financial losses.

During a hearing Wednesday, Judge Nichols said the government’s main security concern seemed to be over operation of the wind turbines, not construction, although the government pushed back on that contention.

In presenting the government’s case, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr. was skeptical of the perfect storm of horrible events that Empire Wind said would derail their entire project if construction didn’t resume. He disagreed with the contention that the government’s main concern was over operation.

“I don’t see how you can make this distinction,” Woodward said. He likened it to a nuclear project being built that presented a national security risk. The government would oppose it being built, and it turning on.

Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, said in an interview that the company wants to build this project and deliver a major, essential new source of power for New York.

McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report from Albany, New York.

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FILE - Wind turbines operate at Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

FILE - Wind turbine bases, generators and blades sit along with support ships at The Portsmouth Marine terminal that is the staging area for Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portsmouth, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

FILE - A sign for the company Equinor is displayed on Oct. 28, 2020, in Fornebu, Norway. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)

Blades and turbine bases for offshore wind sit at a staging area at New London State Pier, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in New London, Conn. (AP Photo/Matt O'Brien)