Judge sentences man who killed Chicago’s ‘Walking Man’ in arson attack to 47 years

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge has sentenced an Illinois man who killed a homeless person known as Chicago’s “Walking Man” in an arson attack to 47 years in prison. Prosecutors say that Cook County Judge Timothy Joyce sentenced Joseph Guardia on Wednesday after Guardia pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with Joseph Kromelis’ death in 2022. The Cook County public defender’s office, which represented Guardia, said that Guardia suffers from mental illness and was seeking a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed him to plead guilty but mentally ill. The office says attorneys couldn’t reach an agreement. Kromelis was the subject of news stories and a documentary and once said that he roamed around downtown “as a way of life.”