# A 60-year sentence in the Loop killing > Tony Robinson received the maximum prison term for killing visiting doctoral student Anat Kimchi in downtown Chicago. - Title: A 60-year sentence in the Loop killing · Chicago Sun-Times - Summary: Tony Robinson received the maximum prison term for killing visiting doctoral student Anat Kimchi in downtown Chicago. The case closed with a maximum… - Keywords: chicago, crime, courts, mental health, public safety, news, local, 60-year, sentence, Loop, killing, Chicago Sun-Times - Source: Chicago Sun-Times — https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/15/anat-kimchi-tony-robinson-loop-murder - Published: 2026-09-15T23:17:20.693+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: chicago, crime, courts, mental health, public safety, news, local ## Maximum sentence imposed Tony Robinson was sentenced to 60 years in prison for fatally stabbing Anat Kimchi in the Loop in 2021. It was the maximum penalty allowed. ## A judge condemns it Cook County Judge John F. Lyke Jr. called the killing senseless and brutal. He said Kimchi had hoped to improve the justice system she studied. > heinous, senseless and brutal crime ## A strange hearing The sentencing hearing mixed grief, testimony and Robinson's own rambling remarks. He had fired his public defenders and represented himself. ## Another attack described Nicole Ferguson testified that Robinson attacked her six days before Kimchi was killed. She said he struck her with a sock filled with rocks. > Are you following me, b? ## The conviction came first A jury convicted Robinson in May of murdering Kimchi, a 31-year-old University of Maryland doctoral student visiting a friend in Chicago. ## A sunny afternoon Kimchi was walking near South Wacker Drive, looking for a place to sit and read. Robinson came up behind her and stabbed her in the neck and back. ## Her mother speaks Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty described the morning calls she used to share with her daughter. Since the killing, her nights have been filled with last-minute fears and unanswered questions. > I miss this morning call so much. ## A future erased Kimchi's mother said weddings and births now bring fresh pain. They remind her of the aisle she will not walk and the grandchildren she will not hold. ## Her father remembers Avraham Kimchi read a poem and said the family would carry on Anat's work. He said her loved ones and colleagues remain tied to her mission. ## Her brother's fear Ofer Kimchi said the murder changed how he moves through the world. He struggles to teach his son safety when he no longer feels it himself. > I rarely feel safe anymore. ## A scholar of fairness Kimchi studied how race and ethnicity shaped probation conditions. Her work found Black probationers were more likely to face tougher rules and more violations. ## A doctorate after death Kimchi had already earned two undergraduate degrees and a master's. Two weeks after she was killed, the University of Maryland awarded her doctorate posthumously. ## Part of a pattern The attack was among several downtown violence cases reviewed by the Sun-Times. Robinson had lived in a tent on Lower Wacker Drive. ## Warning signs recorded Police and court records described prior arrests and strange behavior. Robinson had told detectives he believed people tracked him with cellphones. ## Trial without murder video Prosecutors did not have footage of the stabbing itself. They showed clips of Robinson trailing Kimchi, fleeing with a knife, throwing something in the river and changing shirts. ## A witness called 911 Another homeless man testified that he saw the attack and called police. He later confronted Robinson at his tent, where Robinson threatened him with a knife. ## Robinson denies guilt Robinson told the court he was the victim and dismissed the hearing as theater. His remarks ranged across religion, literature and politics. > the only victim that I know about right here is me ## No remorse shown Prosecutor Anna Sedelmaier said Robinson showed no remorse. She framed Kimchi's death as a loss felt far beyond her family. > On a beautiful day, he stole her life. ## Key takeaway The case closed with a maximum sentence, but it also left a sharper question about how untreated instability and public danger collided before the killing.