Campbell: Abandoning office would be ‘irresponsible’
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said the department was “betrayed” by a former sheriff ’s deputy now charged with the murder of Sonya Massey.
Despite calls for Campbell’s resignation from some county board members and from those speaking publicly at a sometimes-heated public listening session, the sheriff again maintained that it would be “irresponsible” to leave the position, and he has “a drive to get justice for Sonya Massey and for the community and for our deputies.”
Campbell made his comments in a one-onone interview with The State JournalRegister conducted at his office Thursday.
Deputies, Campbell said, were “personally are hurting. They’re devastated. They were betrayed by one of their own deputies. They cannot believe somebody who wore the same uniform, that had the same training or more, conducted (himself) in such a manner. They are horrified by it, and it has impacted them.
“My job here is to make it better for them and help lead us of this.”
Grayson and another deputy responded to Massey’s home in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue in an unincorporated area of Woodside Township around 1 a.m. on July 6. Massey, a 36year-old Black woman, told a 911 dispatcher that it sounded like “someone banging on the side of my house.”
Bodycam footage released to the public on July 22 showed how quickly situation inside Massey’s home escalated after she told Grayson “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Grayson, directing her to put down a pot of boiling water, drew his gun and fired three times, striking Massey with a shot below the left eye.
At a Department of Justice Community Relations Service hearing before 500 people, Campbell said the department “failed the community. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends.” He also asked the gathering
for forgiveness.
Campbell, who has been sheriff since 2018 and next stands for election in 2026, reiterated Thursday that he wasn’t resigning. Marc Ayers, Tony DelGiorno and Kevin McGuire, all Democrats on the Republican-dominated county board, have all publicly called on Campbell to resign.
“I was elected sheriff to lead this office and protect the people of the county through good times and bad,” Campbell said. and “We’re going through a rough time right now, and for me to abandon the sheriff’s office now would be irresponsible.
“We’re certainly suffering, and the community is suffering, and I want to be here to help lead out of this situation.”
Campbell said he had never met Grayson, then a deputy at the Logan County Sheriff’s Department, before he came in to interview in Springfield.
Campbell did acknowledge that Scott Butterfield, a former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy was listed as a reference for Grayson and that he was contacted prior to Grayson employment with the county in May 2023.
In Grayson’s personnel file, released to the public late Wednesday afternoon, Butterfield, who spent 25 years in the department, wrote that his daughter was dating Grayson.
Campbell, 60, has publicly described himselfas“alegacy”inthesheriff’soffice. His father, Jim Campbell, was with the sheriff’s office 20 years and rose to sergeant and his great-uncle, Hugh
Campbell, who was sheriff.
“Certainly, I would have confidence in somebody I know recommend somebody,” Campbell said of Butterfield as a reference. “I think every employer gets a level of comfort if they have a connection with a potential employee.”
Campbell said he “couldn’t speculate” on how Grayson and the other deputy knew about Massey’s mental health history or about previous calls made by and about Massey the hours leading up to the fatal shooting.
Massey’s mother, Donna, detailed in a 911 call the morning of July 5 that her daughter was having “a mental breakdown.”
Massey did go to HSHS St. John’s Hospital later that afternoon “to seek treatment of her mental state” after an alleged confrontation with her neighbor.
Massey’s family members have admitted on several occasions that she had mental health challenges.
Mental health training and crisis intervention training is mandated under the SAFE-T Act “and all of our deputies at the police academy get that,” Campbell said.
Mental health problems “rapidly are increasing around the entire country and we’re no different here in Sangamon County,” he acknowledged. “I am interested in anything that could help the people we’re going to assist as well as our deputies to keep them safe, too. Anything we can do to improve the relationship with and how we interact with those people who have mental health problems, I’m all for that.”