Henry Graham was sentenced to nine years in Russ Long's Magnificent Mile death.

A nine-year term after a June involuntary-manslaughter finding is the judgment on that count. The Chicago Sun-Times and CWB Chicago both reported Judge Charles Burns said long-standing Illinois case law kept a single punch from supporting a murder conviction. CWB Chicago's account of the credit rules is what puts a release roughly 18 months out, and that outlet reported the defense is appealing. The months of arrests between a body-camera admission and the October 2023 arrest are the rest of the public record.

The Chicago Sun-Times and CWB Chicago reported that on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns sentenced Henry Graham, 52, to nine years in prison in the death of Russell Long. Both outlets reported Burns found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter at a bench trial in June, on a case prosecutors had charged as first-degree murder. The Sun-Times reported Burns accepted the defense argument that Illinois case law meant Graham could not have expected one punch to kill. CWB Chicago reported the judge said state law barred a murder conviction, under nearly a century of decisions that a person is not presumed to expect a single punch to be fatal. The Sun-Times reported Burns called the attack "chilling," cited evidence that Graham suffers from severe schizophrenia, and still imposed a stiff term. Burns said Graham "has had a life full of violence" and that "society needs to be protected from Henry Graham," the Sun-Times reported.

Both outlets placed the punch on June 29, 2023, near the Cartier store at 630 N. Michigan Ave. CWB Chicago identified the man who died as Russ Long, 49, a River North resident and longtime Northern Trust employee. The Sun-Times identified him as Russell Long, 53, a vice president at Northern Trust Bank. CWB Chicago reported Graham came up from behind without a word, twisted his torso, and drove a fist into the back of Long's head. The Sun-Times reported the same approach and punch, and that Long was walking south with a shopping bag of new jeans. Both reported he fell and struck the sidewalk. CWB Chicago reported he died of his injuries ten days later. The Sun-Times reported he died 13 days later at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. CWB Chicago, citing prosecutors, reported an autopsy found severe injuries to the left side of the head, including fractures of the frontal bone and the base of the skull. The Sun-Times reported facial and skull fractures and bleeding in the brain.

CWB Chicago reported witnesses said Graham sat on a nearby fire hydrant and watched for about five minutes, then left when he heard sirens. Two witnesses followed him until they met a Chicago police unit, the outlet reported. Prosecutors said the officers, with body cameras running, heard Graham admit he hit Long and knocked him unconscious, and then let him go, CWB Chicago reported. The Sun-Times reported witnesses pointed Graham out, and that police say he admitted the punch but claimed Long had bumped into him. Officers released him, the Sun-Times reported. CWB Chicago reported Long's friends spent four days trying to get the department to take a report. On July 2, a friend called 911 from the hospital bedside and insisted an officer come to Northwestern Memorial, the outlet reported. The call taker first refused because Long could not speak, then sent a car, CWB Chicago reported.

CWB Chicago reported Chicago police did not arrest Graham for the killing until Oct. 25, 2023. The outlet reported six more arrests between the release at the scene and that arrest. The cases it described were a July 9 trespassing arrest at a River North church, later dropped; an Aug. 4 Evanston arrest over a bottle thrown through a store window, later dropped; an Aug. 16 Evanston case accusing him of pushing a 14-year-old girl, which ended in 18 days time served; a Sept. 22 case with four felony counts of aggravated battery involving Evanston officers; and an Oct. 3 arrest over an alleged broomstick strike outside Wrigley Field. CWB Chicago also reported that on June 27, 2023, two days before the Michigan Avenue punch, he was arrested for allegedly kicking a 30-year-old woman at a bus stop near the Magnificent Mile and was released quickly. Those cases are separate from the manslaughter judgment. The Sun-Times reported Burns described a record of convictions for punching and kicking, and active cases alleging an attack on an Evanston officer and damage to jail property. Active cases are accusations.

CWB Chicago reported state law cuts the nine-year term in half for good behavior, and that nearly three years of credit for jail time already served leaves roughly 18 months before release. The outlet reported his attorneys are appealing. The Sun-Times reported Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Sean Brady asked for 10 years. It reported that when Burns asked whether Graham wanted to appeal, Graham first said, "For manslaughter? No," then spoke with his lawyer and said yes. The Sun-Times reported Graham told the judge, "I really don't have anything to say. I never thought that I'd be responsible for laying someone to rest." Assistant Public Defender Celeste Addyman asked Burns to weigh Graham's claim that he thought he had been provoked, an argument the Sun-Times reported Burns rejected. The Sun-Times also reported that a state task force on defendants with serious mental illness approved recommendations the same day, with a report due Nov. 1. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.