Sangamon County, Ill., Sheriff Jack Campbell, who hired the deputy charged in the death of Sonya Massey, announced he would retire five weeks after the Black woman was fatally shot in her home. Campbell, who won the office in 2018, said politics stood in the way of his effectiveness as sheriff and suggested he and his family had received death threats, the Associated Press reports. Campbell, a 30-year veteran of the department, had said he did “not intend to step down.” Campbell said, "The current political climate has made it nearly impossible for me to continue effectively in my role. Some individuals would rather see our community divided and in turmoil than allow me to continue serving as sheriff.” Campbell, 60, said he would leave by Aug. 31.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker had demanded that Campbell quit, saying he had not answered questions about how Sean Grayson became a deputy in the Illinois county that’s home to the state capital of Springfield. Grayson, 30, was fired after being indicted for Massey’s July 6 killing. Massey’s father, James Wilburn, called Campbell “an embarrassment” and called for him to quit. When Grayson was fired, Campbell said it was evident the deputy “did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards.” Grayson’s policing career began in 2020 with six jobs in four years. A decade ago, he was expelled by the Army for the first of two drunken driving convictions in which he had a weapon in his car. Campbell's office reserved a website for questions about the incident where Grayson’s personnel file, audio of 911 calls, deputies' reports from July 6 and other documents requested by the public were posted. Campbell worked for the sheriff’s office for more than 24 years as a deputy before retiring in 2016. He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2014 but won four years later.
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