Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A Chicago woman was among those cheering on last week when Governor Pritzker signed into law “Sonya’s Law” — named after Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed by now-former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson.

Anjanette Young’s home was wrongly raided, she says, by Chicago Police in 2019, as they looked for some other suspect. Young says she was almost killed. Now, making sure nothing like that ever happens to anyone else is now her job — as is, honoring people like Sonya Massey.

“Because I understand the magnitude of me being someone who lived through that experience, I’ve now taken that experience, and I speak out about police reform and accountability in the City of Chicago and across the state.  And, I’m also doing some work with the Institute of Justice in D.C.,” said Young.

Young says the signing of a law calling for stricter background checks on police officer candidates was, in her words, historic, because of how it helps the Massey family move forward, even as Grayson’s murder trial starts in about two months.

“Every time I have an opportunity to speak in Chicago, in D.C., and in other places that I am, I bring up Sonya’s name,” said Young.  “There is no reason that she should have lost her life on that night.  Because I lived through a traumatic experience like that, I now have made it my life’s work to go around the world and tell my story, and to speak out about police accountability.”

Young says “Sonya’s Law” — which requires more thorough background checks of police officer candidates — might not have caused the raid on her home if it were enacted then.

She says it also wouldn’t have allowed the officer in charge of the raid at her home to find work after being fired. Young claims the officer now works in a suburban department.