Former Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson took the witness stand in his own defense on Monday at his trial on murder charges for the shooting death of Sonya Massey, an unarmed Black woman who had called police for help.

Grayson's trial began last week, and it wasn't clear until Monday that he would testify in his own defense, but he was the first witness called by his defense team.

Grayson faces three counts of first-degree murder.

Jurors last week heard from Grayson's partner, who said he wasn't afraid of Massey, but he was afraid of Grayson.

Grayson offered his version of events on Monday.

When he and his partner arrived at Massey's home in the Springfield area on July 6, 2024, Grayson's body-worn camera was not on.

"I should have turned it on when I saw the broken windows of the car," outside, Grayson told jurors

Grayson said that broken window, Massey's call for help, and having to wait four minutes for Massey to answer the door made him concerned that someone else could have been in the house

He also claimed, "I believed she was possibly under the influence of something," and that she appeared "scatterbrained."

He said he turned his camera on as he began to question her. He testified that Massey had a pot of boiling water on the stove, and he believed she was threatening to throw it on him when he opened fire, shooting her.

"I saw the bottom of the pot was turning red, so it seemed very hot," he said. "Then she picked up the pot and walked towards me. … I wasn't quite sure what she was going to do."

Grayson said Massey asked, "Where are you going?" and he responded, "away from your hot steaming water."

"I took it as a threat," he said. "It raises a lot of concern for me and I believe she's going to throw the water. … We were trained to use force that's going to gain compliance."

Grayson said he was equipped with a Taser, but testified, "She was wearing layers and both prongs have to stick in for the Taser to work."

As Massey shouted "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," Grayson said, "The only thing I had to stop the threat was my duty weapon."

Prosecutors asked why he didn't include in his incident report that he yelled at Massey, "I'll fucking shoot you right in your [expletive] face," as recorded by his partner's body camera.

Grayson said he wasn't sure why he didn't include it.

Testimony wrapped up on Monday, and jurors received their instructions, including the option of finding Grayson guilty of second-degree murder. Closing arguments have been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and the jury could begin deliberations by Tuesday afternoon.