SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — WCIA Capitol Bureau Chief Cole Henke sat down with Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell Thursday morning to discuss the death of Sonya Massey, the Sangamon County Deputy charged with her murder and calls for Campbell’s resignation.
Former Deputy ‘solely responsible’
In the interview, the sheriff pinned all of the responsibility for the shooting that took the life of the 36-year-old mother of two on former Deputy Sean Grayson, and he said he and department carry no culpability.
“This is one individual that acted outside the scope of his authority and our policies, procedures in the law,” Campbell said. “And he is now locked up and charged with murder. He will pay the price for that. He and he alone is responsible.”
Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder for shooting Massey, but has pled not guilty. He is being held in custody while he awaits trial.
Campbell is facing calls to resign, with many wondering how he could have hired Grayson to begin with. The deputy had a short career in law enforcement but worked for 6 departments since 2020. Logan County records obtained by WCIA showed Grayson had a history of disobeying orders and violating department policies during his 11 months at the Logan County Sheriff’s Department, and Grayson plead guilty to two separate DUIs before joining the law enforcement ranks.
No racial motivation for shooting
Campbell also said Massey’s race did not play a factor in the shooting. Massey was a Black woman, while Grayson and the other deputy responding to Massey’s 911 call are white.
“There was no complaints about racial issues and nothing came from other agencies about racial issues,” he added.
Referral from former deputy didn’t impact Grayson’s hiring
Despite receiving a strong recommendation from his fiancé’s father, retired Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Butterfield, Campbell also said nepotism did not play a role in Grayson’s hiring.
“There’s not anything that gave him an advantage over somebody else,” Campbell said in the interview. “I’m looking for the best people and if my best friend in the world sends me his nephew and that person is not capable of working here, then we’re not going to hire.”
‘They need me more than ever’: Sheriff will not resign
After facing multiple calls to resign, including from Massey’s family, activists, and a viral online petition with more than 37,000 signatures as of Thursday morning, he said he is not considering resigning.
“I was elected to lead this office through good times and bad, and this is certainly a bad time,” Campbell said. “It would be a dereliction of my duties to abandon the sheriff’s office right now when they need me more than ever.”
New policies to prevent future tragedies
Campbell is vowing to change his hiring practices to prevent future tragedies. He refused to give specifics, but he did say his department may start requesting documents through FOIA for their officer records. Sangamon County had no records of Grayson’s file of complaints at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office.
“I will work with whether it’s the State Training Standards Board, Illinois Sheriffs’ Association to figure out, maybe there’s a better way that we can do this and maybe FOIA is the right way to do it,” the sheriff said.
The full interview can be found below.