Sean Grayson, the former Illinois sheriff's deputy whose killing of Sonya Massey inside her own home became a national flashpoint over police violence, has died while serving a 20-year murder sentence, his attorney confirmed Sunday.

Grayson, 32, died around midday Sunday, roughly six months into the sentence he received in Illinois' Department of Corrections. His lawyer, Daniel Fultz, confirmed the death but declined to release further details, and officials said it was "not immediately clear" whether the cancer that had spread through his body in recent months was the cause.

Grayson had been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2023, before the shooting, and the disease had since advanced to stage 4, spreading to his liver, lungs and rectum. He sought a compassionate medical release on the grounds of terminal illness, but the Illinois Prisoner Review Board rejected the request as recently as last month, ordering him to remain behind bars.

A killing that sparked national outrage

Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, called 911 on July 6, 2024, to report a possible prowler outside her home in unincorporated Sangamon County, near Springfield. Body camera footage that was later released showed Grayson and another deputy responding, and Grayson ordering Massey to put down a pot of hot water she was holding near her stove. As she ducked behind a counter and apologized, invoking God, Grayson fired three shots, one of which struck her in the face, killing her.

The footage — and the fact that Grayson had cycled through multiple law enforcement agencies in the years before he was hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office despite a history of misconduct complaints — triggered protests in cities across the country and calls for accountability from civil rights leaders. A jury convicted Grayson of second-degree murder in October 2025, rejecting his defense that he feared Massey would throw the water at him, and a judge sentenced him in January 2026 to the maximum 20 years, plus two years of mandatory supervised release.

Illinois lawmakers responded to revelations about Grayson's hiring history by passing the Sonya Massey Act, which took effect at the start of this year and requires law enforcement agencies to conduct far more rigorous reviews of an applicant's prior employment and disciplinary record before putting them on the street.

Attorneys for Massey's family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a measured statement following news of Grayson's death.

"GRAYSON'S DEATH IN CUSTODY FROM CANCER DOES NOT BRING SONYA BACK. WE WISH HIS FAMILY PRAYERS OF PEACE, AS WE DO FOR ALL WHO GRIEVE A LOVED ONE."

The Sangamon County Sheriff's Office, which fired Grayson shortly after the shooting, has not issued a public statement on his death. It remains unclear whether an autopsy will be performed or when the Illinois Department of Corrections will release an official cause of death. Massey's family and their legal team have said they plan to continue pushing for broader police accountability reforms in her name, regardless of the outcome of Grayson's case.