Two witnesses who saw banking executive Russell Long fatally punched on the Magnificent Mile in 2023 testified Monday that the shocking attack was unprovoked.
Eric Arrigo, 28, and Andrew Meza, 29, who were roommates at the time, testified that they saw Henry Graham run up to Long and punch him in the back of his head as Long walked near Michigan Avenue and Ontario Street on a sunny afternoon on June 29, 2023.
Long died of brain injuries at Northwestern Memorial Hospital 13 days later. Graham, 52, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The Chicago Sun-Times detailed Graham’s case last year in “Failure to treat, failure to protect,” a series of stories about failures on the part of government and the justice and mental health systems in addressing the problem of violent people with untreated severe mental illness who cycle in and out of jails, prisons and hospitals.
In his opening statement, law student Jake Balderas, assisting Assistant Cook County Public Defender Celeste Addyman, tipped the defense strategy in acknowledging that “it’s no secret that Mr. Graham punched Mr. Long.”
But Balderas said that Graham couldn’t have thought one punch would kill.
“He lacked the required mental state for first-degree murder,” Balderas told Cook County Circuit Judge Charles P. Burns, who is hearing the case without a jury.
Assistant State’s Attorney Sean Brady said Graham struck Long “without provocation, without warning” and that Graham caused great bodily harm, and “he did so knowingly.”
Arrigo and Meza testified that Long, a vice president of Northern Trust, was walking toward them, carrying a shopping bag and hadn’t had any interaction with Graham. After being struck from behind, Long pitched forward and fell face first.
“His body went limp, his eyes shut, and he immediately tipped over,” Arrigo said. “His face slammed on the concrete.”
Both men said Long was barely conscious and bleeding profusely from his mouth and nose.
Arrigo called 911. Before an ambulance arrived, two Northwestern Medicine nurses who were nearby rushed to help.
The witnesses testified that Graham sat on a nearby fire hydrant and watched and that, as the ambulance arrived, Graham got up and walked south on Michigan Avenue, with the roommates and two other bystanders following. They flagged down a patrol car parked in the 500 block of North Michigan Avenue and told police officers that a man had been punched and was badly hurt.
Just then, Graham came over to the cops himself and told them he’d struck Long, though he said that this happened after Long ran into him.
Officer Victor Creed testified that Graham “was angry” and “repetitively made statements about the O.J. Simpson case … O.J. had been freed, and he would be freed.”
Body-worn camera video played in court showed another police officer, a block north at the attack scene, asking Long, who was bleeding and bandaged on a stretcher in an ambulance, whether Long wanted to press charges.
Officer Manuel Soto testified that Long mumbled something he couldn’t hear but which his partner told him was a negative response.
Then, other cops who were holding Graham a block south let him go.
Graham continued to roam the streets for the next three months, authorities say, attacking several other people during that time
Four officers who were working on the day that Long was attacked ended up being disciplined for violating Chicago Police Department rules and served suspensions ranging from one to five days.
An investigation into Long’s killing didn’t begin in earnest until July 2 — after Long’s loved ones complained.
Graham was arrested Oct. 25 while he was being held in the Cook County Jail on another charge.
The prosecution played an extended video clip of Graham being interviewed by police officers. In it, Graham, raising his voice and using profanity multiple times, says Long “ran into me.”
“I turned around and said, ‘What the f—,’ … I hit him,” Graham says in the video.
For most of Monday’s court proceedings, Graham, sitting at the defense table dressed in a khaki jail uniform, kept his hands folded and looked straight ahead.
For years, Graham had bounced around among Chicago, Evanston and South Bend, Indiana, moving among homeless shelters, jails, prisons and hospitals, the Sun-Times has reported. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a chronic condition in which people experience reality in an abnormal way.
Graham had racked up 20 criminal charges since 2010 for incidents including punching and kicking people and was convicted of two felonies and seven misdemeanors, records show.
Long lived in a high-rise building overlooking the Chicago River. Friends described the University of Illinois alum as down-to-earth, with a fine-tuned sense of humor. Long was a music fan and enjoyed seeing local bands performing live.
Long’s brother Dan Long, 57, who lives in Arizona, testified that his brother had been “in great health” before the attack.
Contributing: Frank Main