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Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, who was liable for hiring Sean Grayson, the erstwhile lawman who fatally changeable Sonya Massey past month, told ABC News successful an interrogation Thursday that helium is "horrified" pursuing the incident. He besides stood by his department's vetting process and said that helium volition not resign, contempt calls from Massey's household for him to measurement down.
In May 2023, Campbell interviewed and hired Sean Grayson, who is present down bars charged with 3 counts of first-degree murder, aggravated artillery with a firearm and authoritative misconduct successful Massey's death. Grayson has pleaded not blameworthy and is being held without bond.
"The remainder of this state and the remainder of my agency, we bash things right. This is an idiosyncratic that did not. He was trained, helium should person known amended and I americium horrified for the remainder of this country," Campbell told ABC News. "I consciousness atrocious that helium was successful the Sangamon County azygous erstwhile this occurred due to the fact that it hurts each of instrumentality enforcement. All we privation is to support people."
When asked astir his assurance successful the vetting process that went into hiring Grayson, Campbell said that the contented was Grayson, not the process itself.
RELATED: Sonya Massey's ma called 911 time earlier shooting to study girl was having a intelligence breakdown
"The vetting process has worked precise good for a agelong time. This is an idiosyncratic that acted extracurricular the scope of his authority, the scope of our policies and procedures successful the law. You can't foretell that," helium said.
Grayson was fired from his occupation arsenic sheriff's lawman aft helium fatally changeable Massey portion responding to her Springfield, Illinois, location connected July 6 aft she called 911 for help.
During a assemblage lawsuit connected Monday successful Springfield, Campbell told assemblage members that connected the nighttime of her death, instrumentality enforcement failed Massey.
"Sonya Massey - I talk her sanction and I'll ne'er hide it," Campbell said. "She called for assistance and we failed. That's each she did, telephone for help."
ABC News has besides obtained audio files from 4 911 calls made by Massey and her parent astir intelligence wellness crises successful the days starring up to her death.
In a 911 telephone made connected July 5, the time earlier Massey was fatally shot, Massey's mother, Donna Massey, told the 911 dispatcher that her girl was having a intelligence breakdown.
RELATED: Illinois sheriff says his section 'failed' Sonya Massey, pistillate changeable to decease by deputy
"She's not a information to herself. She's not a information to me. But erstwhile she gets upset, past she thinks everybody's aft her, similar paranoid schizophrenic," Massey's parent said connected the 911 call. "I don't privation you guys to wounded her, please."
Massey's parent besides asked the 911 dispatcher not to nonstop immoderate "combative" oregon "prejudiced" constabulary officers to assistance her daughter.
"The 911 calls seizure the heartbreaking pleas of Sonya's mother, who desperately sought assistance for her girl portion expressing her heavy fears astir the imaginable for unit astatine the hands of the police," civilian rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing Massey's family, said successful a connection to ABC News. "Despite these warnings, Sonya, a pistillate struggling with her intelligence health, was met with deadly unit successful her ain home."
According to unit files obtained by ABC News, a third-party ailment was filed successful May 2024 against Grayson astatine Sangamon County alleging that helium inappropriately handled an brushwood with a 17-year-old miss portion Grayson was looking for a fishy successful the stabbing of 3 people.
The ailment alleges that Grayson, 30, asked the insignificant to fto him into a location adjacent without knowing her narration to the location oregon speaking to an adult. Grayson allegedly accused her of lying and threatened to detain and handcuff her aft she did not fto him into the house.
According to documents, a reappraisal of Grayson's assemblage camera footage determined that his actions "were warranted fixed the superior quality of the call." ABC News has not seen this footage.
Grayson's employment record stated that nary ceremonial probe was conducted regarding this complaint.
Grayson's occupation with Sangamon County was 1 of six antithetic constabulary jobs helium held implicit the past 4 years.
Prior to his employment with Sangamon, Grayson worked astatine the Logan County Sheriff's Office for conscionable nether a year. According to audio files obtained by ABC News, Grayson's then-boss, Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller, expressed concerns implicit Grayson violating section argumentation and submitting inaccurate reports portion discussing his mishandling of a postulation case.
"Just maine asking you those questions, you got a study penning usurpation for policy. You got an accuracy usurpation for policy. You got a modular of behaviour usurpation for argumentation and we're 48 seconds into this," Miller said.
Miller said helium and Grayson person "had this speech before" and called Grayson's behaviour "extremely concerning."
Grayson did not person immoderate argumentation violations, arsenic Miller enactment a clasp connected the study to sermon the inaccuracies with him earlier officially submitting the document. Grayson yet resigned from that position.
Campbell told ABC News that Sangamon County was not alert of this incidental erstwhile Grayson was hired. Without cognition of his disciplinary issues astatine Logan County, Campbell said that Grayson presented nary reddish flags.
He besides called Grayson's employment past astatine 5 erstwhile agencies implicit a abbreviated play of clip thing that has go powerfully criticized successful the nationalist attraction connected this lawsuit -- a "standard vocation path" successful instrumentality enforcement.
"I looked astatine it arsenic a plus," Campbell said astir Grayson's vocation path. "Plus helium had no, helium had nary problems with those agencies. There was thing reported to america that would interest us. There was nary usage of unit complaints and things similar that. That would beryllium thing that we would beryllium precise acrophobic about."
"I cognize that the wide nationalist doesn't recognize that; they presume possibly thing nefarious happened astatine 1 of those agencies. But it didn't. It's simply a emergence successful his career," helium said.
Campbell besides told ABC News that helium has not yet spoken with Massey's household directly, but helium disagrees with their telephone for him to measurement down, saying that his resignation would "do nary good."
Prior to his four-year vocation successful instrumentality enforcement, Grayson served arsenic a 91B (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic) successful the Regular Army for conscionable nether 2 years. Grayson was discharged for "misconduct (serious offense)," according to documents obtained by ABC News.
Grayson was discharged connected February 24, 2016, aft opening work connected May 5, 2014. He served for a full of 1 year, 9 months and 19 days, Grayson's certificate of discharge from progressive work shows.
The U.S. Army, citing the Privacy Act and Department of Defense policy, said it is prevented from releasing accusation relating to the misconduct of low-level employees oregon characterization of work astatine discharge.
Grayson was charged with 2 DUI offenses successful Macoupin County, Illinois, successful August 2015 and July 2016, according to tribunal documents. The archetypal incidental happened portion helium was inactive successful the Army.
He pleaded blameworthy to some charges and paid implicit $1,320 successful fines and had his conveyance impounded arsenic a effect of the 2015 incident. In 2016, Grayson paid implicit $2,400 successful fines, according to tribunal records.
The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor has dropped its archetypal grievance seeking to person Grayson reinstated, the radical announced connected Tuesday.
ABC News' Tesfaye Negussie contributed to this report.
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