Peoria, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – There were some tense moments Thursday in the trial of Sean Grayson, the now-former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy charged with murder after he shot and killed Sonya Massey in July, 2024, at her home in unincorporated Springfield.

The autopsy

Dr. Nathaniel Patterson, forensic pathologist for the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office, discussed in detail the autopsy he performed on Massey the day after she died — July 7, 2024.  Patterson says his report affirms that Massey died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Specifically, Patterson says a bullet entered Massey’s head just below the left eye, and exited just below her left ear.  He said there was limited hemorrhaging near the brain, which was also shown to the jury.  What caused Massey’s death specifically, Patterson said, was damage done to a carotid artery.  But that could have been somewhat prevented.  Patterson said had first aid been rendered sooner after the shots were fired, and had she been taken to the hospital in time, it’s possible Massey could have been survived.  In the body-worn camera video from the shooting, Grayson tells his partner there was no need to get a medical kit, because she was shot in the head.

On cross-examination, Patterson admitted that, as a doctor, he could be just as able to prescribe an allergy medication as he could do an autopsy.  That said, Patterson has experience in forensic pathology of more than a decade.

Also, Patterson admitted that in a required toxicology test, outsourced to a Pennsylvania-company, Massey had tested positive for an ingredient in marijuana in her system, along with Gabapentin, a prescription drug.  The defense was likely using that to highlight any sort of altered state the night of the shooting, when she thought a prowler was on her property.  Delta 9 THC, Patterson says, can cause “distorted perception.”

“Expert”witness

Retired police chief in Georgia, Louis Dekmar, former head of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, spent the most time on the witness stand Thursday.  Dekmar has nearly 50 years of law enforcement experience, and has been called on in thousands of cases to review police department policies and procedures, use of force incidents, and other things.  But, that might not have been good enough for defense attorney Mark Wykoff, who called into question Dekmar’s entire curriculum vitae. While he’s testified in depositions, civil cases, and provide written reports of his evaluations, Wykoff got Dekmar to admit he has never been called on to testify in a criminal trial before, and that was the basis for the objection as an expert witness.

“Is this the first time ever in your 50 years of law enforcement experience that you’re sitting in a witness chair to testify in front of a jury in a criminal case?” asked Wykoff.

“No, I’ve testified in numerous criminal cases as a police chief,” said Dekmar.  “I’ve testified as a subject matter expert.”

Wykoff claimed “the lack of expertise speaks for itself.”

“He may not be a professional witness,” said Marybeth Rodgers, Assistant State’s Attorney, “but he is a professional expert in law enforcement policy and procedure.”

After being allowed as an expert, Dekmar testified that based on reviews of various Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department policies and procedures, Grayson violated them in terms of deescalation, crisis intervention, and others, including use of force.  That was another sticking point causing debate in the courtroom.  But, in the end, Dekmar was also allowed to discuss use of force.

Dekmar said you don’t expect a police officer to be perfect every single time they respond to a phone call, but he also violated a department policy regarding the “value of human life,” and suggested actions that night caused an incident to escalate quickly, instead of deescalate.

But, regarding human life and the department’s guiding principles, Dekmar acknowledged that human life also includes those of Grayson and his deputy, bolstering the theory that Grayson was in “imminent danger” of getting a pot of boiling water thrown at him.

“Does that now place [Grayson] in the immediate threat of serious death or injury?” asked Wykoff.

“It could,” said Dekmar.  Prior to that, however, Dekmar said, “What I saw was him advancing on her,” suggesting that Massey must have felt she was the one in danger.

Other witnesses

Other witnesses testifying Thursday for the prosecution included Trooper Adam Markwell, Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigator, who showed evidence collected from the scene, as did Emily Maulding, another ISP CSI.  Hali Carls-Miller, an ISP forensic scientist who discussed testing she did on Grayson’s duty weapon, and retired Elgin Police officer and Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board instructor Anthony Rigano.  He taught courses on deescalation and crisis intervention Grayson took.  Rigano says they are not simple pass-fail courses, and officers do end up having to take them again if they don’t properly demonstrate crisis intervention ability.

An emotional moment

Prior to the court day starting, observers could see a woman believed to be Grayson’s mother approach members of the Massey family, including Sonya’s mother, Donna.  The embraced and shared tears, with both saying they could not imagine what the other family is going through.  Other family members of both sides attended court Thursday.

One less juror

Sangamon County Judge Ryan Cadigan confirmed Thursday that one of the jurors had been dismissed due to what was described only as a “personal emergency.”  He did not say if it was a sitting juror, or one of the potential alternates, based on how the jury was picked.  Either way, there are now only two alternate jurors.  It’s believed the 12 official jurors are made up of eight men, and four women.

Our website

The blue bar on top of this page and every page of CapitolCityNow.com, including the home page, is called an “alert bar.”  It’s been used to direct site visitors to each day’s live blog of the trial.  When viewing the website on a mobile device, however, we’ve learned that the “alert bar” covers the bar that allows you to “listen live” to WTAX.  Upon investigation, we’ve found that’s only a problem if you view the website on a smart device, and does not impact getting to the link via a laptop or desktop computer.  One solution is to download the CapitolCityNow mobile app, available for both iPhone and Android, where there are separate buttons for listening live that do not interfere.  We thank you for your understanding, as we feel interest in the trial justifies us using every opportunity to direct people to our coverage.

Court resumes Friday at 9am, as does our live blogging, Facebook updates, and updates on Newstalk 93.9 and AM 1240 WTAX.