By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – An Illinois sheriff whose deputy was fired, arrested and charged in July in the fatal shooting of a Black woman, said on Friday that he will retire at month-end.
“It has become clear that the current political climate has made it nearly impossible for me to continue effectively in my role,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said in a statement.
His deputy, Sean Grayson, 30, fired three shots, striking Sonya Massey, 36, once in the face during a call for help at her home. Grayson pleaded not guilty to murder in July.
Massey, a mother of two teenagers, had called police about a suspected intruder in her Springfield home, according to Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing the family.
Her death was the latest in a running list of high-profile police killings of Black people, including George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Roger Fortson, who Crump has represented.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had called on Campbell to resign.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Rod Nickel)
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