A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting a 36-year-old woman who called police to her home for help. The 2024 killing of Sonya Massey sparked widespread protests amid a wider reckoning over police conduct towards Black residents in the United States. When she appeared to pick up the pot again, Grayson opened fire, hitting Massey three times in the face. Since Massey’s death, Illinois law has changed to require full background checks for candidates applying for law enforcement jobs. The law, praised as a step towards police accountability, is known as the Sonya Massey Act.