A Cook County judge sentenced 52-year-old Henry Graham to nine years in prison for an unprovoked punch that killed Northern Trust Corporation vice president Russell Long on Michigan Avenue in 2023, a case that laid bare both police missteps and the limits of Illinois homicide law. Graham struck the 53-year-old Long from behind without warning, and Long died 13 days later from the resulting head injuries.
The attack happened on June 29, 2023, as Long walked past the Cartier store at 630 N. Michigan Avenue near Ontario Street, according to CBS News. Graham ran up behind him and struck the back of his head, and Long suffered facial and skull fractures along with bleeding of the brain before he died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Witnesses identified Graham to Chicago police immediately after the attack, and he later admitted to hitting Long, though he claimed Long had bumped into him first, the Sun-Times reports, citing police.
Officers Let Graham Walk Away, Then He Struck Again
Despite the on-scene identification, Chicago police released Graham without arresting him. Four CPD officers were later hit with internal disciplinary suspensions ranging from two to five days for failing to arrest Graham or file a complete incident report, even though eyewitnesses had pointed officers to Graham as he sat on a nearby fire hydrant, per CBS News. Witnesses told the outlet that officers had been watching a television show on a tablet inside their squad car when approached.
In the months before his eventual arrest for Long’s death, Graham was accused of attacking other people, according to police reports cited by the Sun-Times. CBS News reported that Graham was arrested on September 23, 2023, in Evanston for battering a business owner and biting police officers, then was released on bond before he was arrested again on October 3, 2023, for hitting a man with a broom handle outside Wrigley Field. He has a long record of convictions for punching and kicking people, and he still faces active court cases alleging he attacked an Evanston police officer and destroyed jail property, per the Sun-Times.
Trial Testimony and the One-Punch Legal Barrier
Prosecutors originally charged Graham with first-degree murder, but Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns instead found him guilty of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter following a bench trial in June. At trial, eyewitnesses Eric Arrigo and Andrew Meza — roommates who were walking on Michigan Avenue at the time — testified that they saw Graham sprint up from behind Long and land an unprovoked blow to the back of his head, according to the Sun-Times…