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Posted on 10/10/2026 8:18:49 PM PDT by george76
Henry Graham, a 52-year-old man with a lengthy arrest record who killed a man with a single punch on the Magnificent Mile, was sentenced to nine years in prison on Friday, months after a judge found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter, saying state law barred him from being convicted of murder.
The state’s “one punch” legal standard that spared Graham a murder conviction may surprise many, but it is well established in Illinois, where nearly a century of case law holds that a person cannot reasonably expect a single punch to kill someone. Therefore, in almost all cases, a person cannot be convicted of murder when a single punch proves fatal.
Graham’s victim, Russ Long, was a 49-year-old River North resident and longtime Northern Trust employee. On June 29, 2023, he was carrying a shopping bag past the Cartier store at 630 North Michigan Avenue when Graham quickly approached him from behind without saying a word. Graham twisted his torso backward, then thrust it forward, driving his fist into the back of Long’s head, prosecutors alleged.
Long fell forward immediately, striking his head on the pavement. As Long lay bleeding on the ground, Graham sat down on a nearby fire hydrant and stared at him for about five minutes, witnesses said. He walked away upon hearing sirens in the distance.
Two witnesses followed him until they crossed paths with a Chicago police unit. The officers detained Graham and, with their body cameras rolling, heard him admit to hitting Long and knocking him unconscious, prosecutors said. The police then let him go.
For four days, Long’s friends tried in vain to get the Chicago Police Department to file a report about the attack. Finally, on July 2, a friend of Long’s called 911 from his hospital bedside and insisted that an officer be sent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to document the attack. Once again, the 911 call taker refused to dispatch anyone because Long could not speak, though they eventually relented and sent a car.
Only then did CPD begin documenting and investigating what had happened to Long, who died of his injuries ten days later. An autopsy showed “severe injuries” to the left side of Long’s head, prosecutors said. His frontal bone and the base of his skull were fractured.
Yet, CPD did not arrest Graham in connection with the slaying until October 25. In the nearly three months from when Chicago cops released Graham minutes after the attack and the filing of murder charges in October, Graham was arrested six more times, according to court records:
July 9, 2023: Trespassing at a River North church. The case was dropped on August 22. August 4, 2023: Throwing a bottle of gin through an Evanston store window. The case was dropped on September 5. August 16, 2023: Charged with pushing a 14-year-old girl in the chest, causing her to fall over a bench. Evanston police said he also pulled the girl by her ankle, leaving scrapes on her arms and legs. He received a sentence of 18 days time served on September 5. September 22, 2023: Charged with four felony counts of aggravated battery to police officers. Evanston police accused him of biting one officer on the hand, biting another on the thigh, kicking a third in the groin, and hitting a fourth. October 3, 2023: Arrested for allegedly striking a Lakeview man with a broomstick outside Wrigley Field. The incident was caught on camera. Despite the string of attacks and the strong likelihood that Graham had unmanaged mental health issues, authorities released him back onto the streets again and again. Finally detained for questioning about Long’s death in October, Graham once more admitted to hitting him and even demonstrated on video how he had done it, prosecutors said.
“He used a closed fist and wound his upper body in a manner like a person would throw a baseball and struck [Long] violently in the head area,” according to a detention filing prosecutors submitted in 2023.
Graham’s history of violence predated the killing. In November 2022, he was accused of shoving a 71-year-old man into a glass storefront in Evanston. He failed to appear in court, and when he finally did show up in April 2023, the case was dropped. Early in 2023, he was accused of kicking a woman in the leg and arm as she walked near Daley Plaza. That case, too, was dropped in July, after Long was killed.
In March, he “displayed irate behavior” and punched a man in the chest, face, arms, and legs on a CTA train near Dempster. He pleaded guilty in April and received 33 days time served.
One week later, he was arrested for assault in Evanston. After failing to appear, he received 15 days time served on June 20. A week after that, on June 27, he was arrested again — this time for kicking a 30-year-old woman in the leg and face as she waited for a bus near the Magnificent Mile. He was quickly released and, just two days after that arrest, he killed Russ Long.
Graham must serve only half of his nine-year sentence, as state law grants a 50% reduction for good behavior. With nearly three years of additional credit for time already served in jail, he faces roughly 18 months behind bars before he is back on the streets. His attorneys are appealing.
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Black on white murder? Perp gets 9 years with time off for good behavior. Victim got the death sentence.
Shall we guess what he looks like?
Scott Adams was right
Knockout game.
Polar bear hunting
Just another chimp-out.
They cannot help those primate urges when they happen
I hope someone in prison returns the favor to him.
Just tell the “Judge” that you are here illegally. They will have you out in 17 minutes w an apology for hassling you. S/O
What I knew. Could tell by the history with no harsh time.
If he’s that badass he might save them money on prison costs.
If he’s that badass he might save them money on prison costs.
Absolutely outrageous!
Yep =>
“I hope someone in prison returns the favor to him.”
More likely, he’ll have stature among his prison peers.
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