Sheriff's deputy got mad and fatally shot Sonya Massey without justification, prosecutor says

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois sheriff's deputy who killed Sonya Massey in her Springfield home last year eschewed his training and the principles of policing when he shot the Black woman who had called 911 for help, a prosecutor said Wednesday in Sean Grayson's murder trial.

Grayson, who is white, faces three counts of first-degree murder for shooting the 36-year-old single mother on July 6, 2024, during a confrontation over her handling of a pot of hot water she removed from her stove.

The jury watched unedited body camera video of the encounter, prompting some jurors to recoil and cover their mouths while Grayson looked down for much of it. Massey's mother left the courtroom in tears.

Earlier, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser told the jury that the video would show Massey posed no threat when Grayson and fellow Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Dawson Farley entered her home. Massey, who had mental health problems, had called 911 about a suspected prowler.

“She’s a little scattered, but she’s nice and kind and talking to him and you’ll see that interaction,” Milhiser said during opening statements. “You will see what happens when the defendant gets mad at a woman who is in her kitchen and has called for help. He gets mad and shoots and kills her without lawful justification.”

“He did not follow his training. He did not follow police principles.”

Grayson’s attorney, Daniel Fultz, told the jury that when Massey approached with the pot of water, Grayson repeatedly demanded she put it down before “making a decision no police officer wants to make.”

“Ms. Massey lifted the pot of water above her head and the evidence will show that the use of force was reasonable under the circumstances without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight,” Fultz said. “What happened to Ms. Massey was a tragedy, but it was not a crime.”

The killing has prompted continued questions about U.S. law enforcement shootings of Black people in their homes and generated a change in Illinois law requiring fuller transparency on the background of candidates for law enforcement jobs.

Grayson, 31, has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of murder, he faces 45 years to life in prison. Prosecutors dismissed single counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.

Grayson and Farley had entered Massey's home to report they had found no suspicious activity when Grayson noticed the pot on the stove and ordered it removed.

The body camera video shows Grayson and Massey joking about how the deputy backed away as she moved the pot before Massey said, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson later told sheriff's investigators he thought Massey's statement meant she intended to kill him. He yelled at her to drop the pot. In the subsequent commotion, he fired three shots, striking her just below the eye.

Farley testified that he drew his weapon after Grayson did because department policy calls for a deputy to do so when a partner does.

“She just never did or said anything that made me think she was a threat,” Farley said. “Looking across the room and seeing my partner draw his gun — it was the defendant's actions that made me have a heightened sense of awareness.”

Under Fultz's questioning, Farley acknowledged that his initial report days after the shooting claimed he feared for his safety from the hot water and that Massey held the pot chest high. Farley said that after Grayson was indicted he sought to amend his statement to the Illinois State Police to “clarify” that it was Grayson’s response, not the hot water, that rattled him and that it was an oven mitt, not the pot, that Massey held chest-high.

At the time, Farley was serving a one-year probationary period and subject to firing for any reason. He said his union representative advised against further state police contact.

Earlier, Illinois State Police Lt. Eric Weston, a crime scene investigator, told defense attorney Mark Wykoff that he collected two shell casings from Grayson's 9 mm pistol at Massey's home the morning of the shooting. The third casing was picked up days later, when he learned three shots had been fired. But the pot sat untouched in the house for weeks.

“You knew an hour after the event occurred that the pot was basically employed as a weapon, but you didn’t collect it then,” Wykoff said. “You didn’t collect it during the second search when the third cartridge was collected. You collected it about two weeks later.”

FILE - Donna Massey, center right, wipes tears from her face as she listens to Rev. Al Sharpton, right, speak during a press conference over the shooting death of her daughter Sonya, who was killed by Illinois sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson, at New Mount Pilgrim Church in the Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, file)

FILE - This January 2025 booking photo provided by the Macon County jail shows Sean Grayson, a former Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey in Springfield, Ill. (Macon County Jail via AP,File)

FILE - In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police, Sonya Massey, left, talks with former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson outside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. (Illinois State Police via AP, File)

FILE - In this image taken from body camera video released by Illinois State Police on Monday, July 22, 2024, former Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson, left, points his gun at Sonya Massey, who called 911 for help, before shooting and killing her inside her home in Springfield, Ill., July 6, 2024. (Illinois State Police via AP, file)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.

Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges," according to the nation's electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.

The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls were expected to close at 4 p.m., but voting was extended one hour until 5 p.m. local time. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.

In the morning, impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.

“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.

Wine, the candidate, alleged electoral fraud, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming that there was “ballot stuffing.”

Wine wrote in a post on X that his party's leaders had been arrested. “Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” the post said.

Museveni told journalists he was notified that biometric machines weren't working at some stations and that he supported the electoral body's decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on allegations of fraud.

Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.

Nganda said the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support. "It’s going to be chaos,” he said.

Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.

Emmanuel Tusiime, a young man who was among dozens prevented from entering a polling station in Kampala past closing time said the officials had prevented him from participating.

“My vote has not been counted, and, as you can see, I am not alone," he said he was left feeling “very disappointed.”

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.

The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and possible vote tampering.

Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.

There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.

Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.

Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.

“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.

The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.

“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."

Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)