SANGAMON COUNTY, Ill. — Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell announced his resignation Friday amid mounting political pressure after one of his deputies fatally shot Sonya Massey in her home last month.
"The tragic death of Sonya Massey has been a heartbreaking event for our community. My deepest condolences go out to her family and friends," Campbell said in a statement Friday afternoon.
"Since the incident, I have been proactive and transparent, working tirelessly to present all of the facts to the public. I have committed to making changes to our standards and collaborating with other units of government on ways to prevent incidents like this in the future. The one person truly responsible for this act is in jail, and I believe justice will be served through the legal process.
"Despite these efforts, some in our community want me to pay the price for that person’s actions, even threatening that I pay that price with my life, my family's lives, or the lives of my Deputies."
Campbell's resignation is effective no later than Aug. 31.
Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Wednesday for Campbell, a Republican, to step down, saying “the sheriff has failed.”
Sean Grayson, 30, faces three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in the July 6 shooting death of Massey, 36. Campbell, who hired Grayson for the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department in May 2023, reiterated his intent Wednesday to stay in the job.
“He has failed to explain how he ended up hiring this deputy sheriff who has been fired from other departments," Pritzker said of Campbell at an event in Chicago. "He failed to put forward reforms that clearly need to be made, training and other reforms and still has failed to meet with the Massey family.”
There is no evidence Grayson was fired from any previous job.
Grayson has come under scrutiny because — prior to becoming a law enforcement officer — he was kicked out of the Army a decade ago for the first of two drunken driving arrests within a year. His law enforcement career included six jobs in four years, during which he received some reviews that indicated he needed more training and had one disciplinary problem.
Grayson was fired on July 17 for violating use-of-force standards by shooting Massey rather than taking non-lethal action when he felt threatened by a pan of hot water she was holding, according to authorities.
The sheriff had previously signaled Wednesday that he would stay on the job.
Pritzker, who with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton met with Massey's family two weeks ago, faulted Campbell for not sitting down with family members.
“At a minimum, listen to them, hear them, and then hopefully, take action,” Pritzker said.
Campbell said he has requested meetings with the family four times through family-designated intermediaries, but none has been accepted. He said he would still like to meet.
At an appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Illinois State Fair, Pritzker doubled down on his criticism of the sheriff. He said Campbell has refused to answer questions, despite the sheriff's office establishing a web page strictly for answering news media questions about the case and releasing documents and conducting a slew of 15-minute interviews with various media organizations last week.
The governor said Campbell should have talked to the chiefs of departments previously employing Grayson, but documents Campbell released show he did. And the state Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board certified Grayson for duty six times.
Pritzker also said the Massey family has said publicly that they would like to meet with Campbell.
“If he’s reached out, he hasn’t done a very good job because the Massey family hasn’t had the meeting that they’ve asked," Pritzker said.