William Livingston, 32, sits in Cook County Jail on two felony aggravated battery charges tied to unprovoked punches thrown at two women in Lincoln Park on June 12, 2025. Chicago police say the victims, 40 and 29 years old, picked him out of a lineup. The arrest announced November 13 marks the latest chapter in a decade-long pattern of random street assaults on women that has left residents furious and victims scarred.
A tweet from X.
The court records and police reports show that since 2012, Livingston has faced between 17 to 20 arrests, with at least seven specifically for punching women without warning.
“He just walks up and hits you,”
Kathleen Miles, 56, told CBS Chicago after Livingston knocked her unconscious near Washington and Franklin streets on August 19, 2025. Miles, a mother of 11 from Lake Villa, suffered facial fractures and a concussion.
“I want him off the streets for good,”
She said.
Earlier incidents include a 2022 rampage in the South Loop that led to four felony counts and a five-year sentence, later cut short by time in a psychiatric unit. Charges from 2015, 2016, and 2017 also ended in probation or dropped cases, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
A surveillance compilation posted by X user @unlimited_ls stitches together eight seconds of attacks: a man in broad daylight closing in, swinging, and walking away. Blue-background mugshots of Livingston flash across the bottom. The clip, watermarked “Unlimited_L’s,” has racked up 2.1 million views.
Replies demand longer sentences and question why judges kept releasing him. Some users point to racial patterns in victim selection; others blast bail reform.
“How many times does he get to do this?”
One commenter wrote.
Anne Kurze, the 40-year-old attacked in June, identified Livingston in a police lineup, prosecutors said. Miles, still recovering months later, told NBC Chicago the system failed everyone.
“They treat him, release him, and he does it again,”
She said.
Violent crime in the city fell 11 percent in 2024, per Chicago Police Department data, yet high-profile cases like this fuel fear. Homicides rank Chicago tenth among large U.S. cities, but random assaults in busy areas hit different nerves.
Judges have cited mental-health evaluations in past releases, yet follow-up care appears spotty. Livingston refused to cooperate with a 2018 evaluation, court files show. Critics say short jail stints and medication without supervision create a revolving door.
Prosecutors bypassed a detention hearing and moved straight to indictment, signaling intent to keep Livingston locked up. His next court date is set for late November. For victims and frustrated residents, the question remains whether this time the cycle finally breaks.
