Even though it has been nearly a decade since Stanton was killed, advocates say the political climate has grown more hostile to trans people, with numerous rights rolled back in recent years by President Donald Trump.

Black trans women like Stanton are particularly at risk for violence, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The organization has recorded almost 400 fatal attacks of transgender and gender nonconforming people since 2013, nearly 60% of whom were Black trans women.

Prosecutors allege that 25-year-old Tremon Hill lured Dejanay Stantoninto an alley in Chicago's Bronzeville neighbourhood before shooting her in the head in August 2018 because he did not want others to know he had been involved with a trans woman. Hill denies the charge. 

Opening the case this week, Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Cooperdescribed Stanton as a woman who was "living her life on her own terms" and "living her life as the person she wanted to be".

The Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump repealed regulations last month set by the Biden administration. They limited how much power plants could emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane — which contribute to climate change. Illinois joins a coalition of 25 states, counties and cities in the suit.