Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – In the year since then-Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson fatally shot Sonya Massey in her Springfield-area home, hardly anything has changed,

That’s the assessment of Intricate Minds founder Tiara Standage, whose profile has risen greatly since Grayson killed Massey July 6, 2024. Grayson claims self-defense, as Massey was holding a pan of hot water. He is jailed on murder charges and is scheduled to be tried this fall.

“The most disrespectful thing the city can do is allow the same conditions that killed her to persist while her family and community are still actively grieving her. To this council: you can’t claim to care about justice while you fight against equity. You can’t say ‘never again’ while protecting the same policies and people that let it happen. We owe Sonya more than memorials; we owe her a changed city, and we won’t rest until we get it.”

Standage said the attitudes police display have not changed: “Black folks are still treated as threats before we are seen as human.”