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…