CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — A suburban mother was randomly knocked unconscious on her way home from work in downtown Chicago, becoming the latest victim of an alleged serial attacker with a long history of violence and mental illness. The August 19 assault on Kathleen Miles, 56, has drawn new attention to the city's struggles with repeat offenders and comes as President Donald Trump prepares to deploy the National Guard to combat what he calls "out-of-control crime."
The alleged assailant, William Livingston, 32, is one of at least two men recently dubbed "punchers" for a series of unprovoked attacks on women in the city.
The Attack
Miles, a Lake Villa resident who works downtown once a week, was walking with a co-worker near Union Station when Livingston allegedly squeezed between them and became violent.
Surveillance video, released by the city only after pressure from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, shows the man striking Miles. She was knocked unconscious and has no memory of the attack.
"I woke up, and my co-worker was standing above me, saying, ‘You’re OK. You’re in the hospital. You’ve been assaulted,'" Miles recalled. She suffered a concussion, a severe black eye, and several broken bones in her face.
A "Revolving Door" of Violence
Livingston was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated battery. His arrest record, however, shows a long and disturbing history that has led victims, including Miles, to blame a failed system.
Livingston has been arrested at least 17 times since 2014, with a majority of charges for battery and aggravated assault against women and law enforcement. In 2022, he went on a rampage, punching four different women in the face in unprovoked attacks. He was sentenced to five years in prison but was back on the streets to attack Miles in August 2025.
"It’s 2025, and he’s out," Miles said. "And if he had been held accountable for his actions, then I wouldn’t be sitting here with injuries."
Livingston is not an isolated case. Another man, Derek Rucker, 37, has also been in the news for similar unprovoked punching attacks on at least seven women, many near CTA "L" platforms. Rucker, who has been in and out of jail, has a long history of schizophrenia, and his mother described his life as a "revolving door" of hospitals and incarceration.
Political Tensions and a Failed System
The high-profile attacks have fueled a contentious political debate over public safety in the "Windy City," which saw 58 people shot, eight fatally, over the recent Labor Day weekend.
President Trump has repeatedly warned Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that he will mobilize federal troops. "We’re going in," Trump told reporters, "We have the right to do it."
While politicians focus on enforcement, victims and mental health advocates point to a systemic failure to treat violent, mentally ill offenders. Livingston and Rucker both cycled through jails and hospitals for years. Livingston was given "treatment and meds" in 2017 but was noted as "oppositional, resistant and evasive" during a 2018 mental evaluation. Rucker was recommended against inclusion in a probation mental health program due to his "steady history of aggression and violence."
Miles, while wanting a maximum sentence, also believes the system is broken.
"I really feel that the system has failed him on so many levels," Miles said. "He has no guidance. He has no support. He’s left to just hang in the wind, to hurt another person. It’s tragic.
To see more crimes that took place in Chicago, check out our video here:
