A homeless man who officials said spent nine days attacking women in downtown Chicago, resulting in the death of a PhD student from Maryland, was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Tuesday.
On a Saturday afternoon in June 2021, Anat Kimchi, a 31-year-old criminal justice researcher, was attacked in the Loop while visiting a friend. Kimchi was walking in the 400 block of South Wacker Drive when Tony L. Robinson, 46, grabbed her from behind and stabbed her in the neck and upper back with a knife, according to authorities.
A witness who watched the attack from a neighboring park initially believed Robinson was attempting to rob Kimchi. Robinson escaped with only her sweater. The witness confronted Robinson briefly before backing up when Robinson threatened him, going to Kimchi’s side and holding her until paramedics arrived.
A clothing thrown near the murder scene had DNA that matched Robinson. Before the incident, surveillance video showed him approaching Kimchi from behind, then escaping with a knife in hand and throwing it into the Chicago River.
Robinson was also charged with attacking a 50-year-old visitor outside her Loop hotel approximately a week before Kimchi’s death. The woman, who was coming from St. Louis for a baseball game, told police she was walking to get coffee when a man approached her in the first block of East Ida B. Wells Drive around 7:14 a.m. on June 13, 2021. The man asked if she was following him.
The woman refused and attempted to continue walking, but the man smacked her in the head with a hard instrument. She informed authorities that she felt like she had been hit by a solid block, according to reports. Robinson grabbed the woman’s phone and money after she dropped them, then struck her twice more with the instrument, according to prosecutors. The incident broke her nose and resulted in injuries that required nine stitches in her forehead and three staples in the back of her head.
During an initial court appearance, prosecutors also said Robinson was responsible for hitting a 25-year-old woman with an instrument in the 500 block of South Franklin Street around 9:30 p.m. on June 10, 2021. According to CWBChicago, the woman’s injuries were severe enough that firefighters initially believed she had been shot in the head. According to authorities, surveillance video shows the attacker following the “exact route” Robinson allegedly traveled after killing Kimchi.
After Kimchi’s murder, investigators discovered a sock full with rocks inside Robinson’s tent. Officials suspect he used it to beat the two ladies in the days leading up to Kimchi’s death.
Robinson went to trial for murder in May, and a jury promptly found him guilty on two counts. On Tuesday, Judge John Lyke imposed the 60-year term. Robinson must serve the entire term under state law.
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