PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Jurors in the Sean Grayson murder trial have been deliberating for a bit early Wednesday morning and already had two questions.
One was to see another exhibit — legalese for a piece of evidence, be it a report or a video — and the other was for a list of exhibits.
The exhibit they wanted to see dealt with training Grayson had received from the state of Illinois while at a training academy.
Sangamon County Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin sent those back and then recessed the court after a five-minute session right at 9 a.m.
Security was very tight. Several deputies with the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office were walking around in green tactical gear. It wasn’t clear if they were there to remain on the second floor near the courtroom or just checking in with a supervisor.
The family of Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy who was charged with murder for the July 6, 2024, death of Sonya Massey, stood in one part of the hallway. There was only a handful of people, as there had been all week.
The family of Sonya Massey, however, filled another part of the hallway. They have been camping out in an unused courtroom to wait for the verdict.
But overall, the mood in the building was fairly cordial. People chatted with each other and exchanged pleasantries.
Media presence, already high for a case held in Peoria County, was even higher as outlets who had not been at the trial showed up to cover the final portion of the case.
During the brief court hearing, Grayson, 31, stood next to his attorneys. His dark blue suit contrasted with a brown belt and shoes. He looked fairly relaxed despite the tension in the room regarding the case.
Updates for other days of the trial can be found below:
- Day 1: Jury Selection
- Day 2: Motions and rulings
- Day 3: Illinois State Police Investigative head takes the stand
- Day 4: Departmental policies
- Day 5: Faculty director of the Excellence in Policing & Public Safety (EPPS) Program takes the stand.
- Day 6: Defense calls expert
- Day 7: Closings, jury instructions and deliberations begin
Updates from inside the courtroom by WMBD’s Andy Kravetz will be below in reverse chronological order.
UPDATED (8:10 a.m.) — Within an hour, the 12 jurors who are deliberating in the Sean Grayson trial will get back to work on deciding whether he’s guilty of murder.
After more than 6 1/2 hours of deliberations, the jury was sent home Tuesday with orders to resume Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.
The panel of 12 went out at about 11:40 a.m., Tuesday. Now it’s a waiting game for both the Grayson family and the family of Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed by the former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy on July 6, 2024.
Closing arguments took about 2 hours and 15 minutes, after which the judge read instructions to the jury. Jurors will also have the ability to consider a lesser charge of second-degree murder, which carries a possible prison term of four to 20 years behind bars. Probation is also an option.
First-degree murder has a sentencing range of 20 to 60 years behind bars and if jurors find Grayson pulled the trigger — an additional 25 years to life is automatically added. That is based on a landmark 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case that requires the additional penalty if a jury finds the defendant pulled the trigger.
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