PEORIA — A downstate jury convicted a white ex-cop of second-degree murder Wednesday for fatally shooting Sonya Massey in a verdict that bitterly disappointed family members of the slain, unarmed Black woman.
Former Sangamon County sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson was found guilty of one count for killing the 36-year-old Massey in her Springfield area home last year. Prosecutors had sought convictions on three counts of first-degree murder.
The fatal encounter between Grayson and Massey spurred changes in state policing laws and led to a $10 million settlement to her family from Sangamon County.
But it was the 36-minute police video showing Massey's grisly killing that put her death and the trial in the nation's conscience: It documented yet another instance of a white police officer using

St. Louis Public Radio

America News
NBC Southern California Local
Local News in Florida
ABC News Video
ClickOrlando
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Raw Story
AlterNet
Law & Crime