Prosecutors Secure 90-Year Sentence in 2008 Sexual Assault Case
A Chicago man believed to be a serial rapist and murderer who preyed upon women in violent sexual attacks on the South Side has been sentenced to 90 years in prison in the first of multiple cases against him, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.
Michael Johnson, 28, was sentenced after having been previously convicted of two counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault and one count of Aggravated Battery/Great Bodily Harm in connection with a sexual assault that occurred on Aug. 17, 2008. Johnson is also charged with the murder and sexual assault of four other women who were slain in attacks by Johnson between 2008 and 2010. He is also facing attempted murder and sexual assault charges in connection with a fifth case in which the victim survived.
According to prosecutors, in the August 2008 case, Johnson met the victim near a gas station in the area of 111th and State Street and the victim agreed to have sex with Johnson for money at his residence. After the two engaged in sex, the defendant requested an additional sex act, which the victim refused. As the victim was getting dressed to leave Johnson’s residence, prosecutors said Johnson grabbed her and began to choke her until she lost consciousness. As the victim drifted in and out of consciousness, Johnson continued to choke and beat her before sexually assaulting her. Afterwards, Johnson threw the victim off a second story balcony and then dragged the naked victim through a vacant lot and left her in the alleyway causing second degree friction burns on her back.
According to prosecutors, the victim was taken to a nearby hospital where a rape kit was collected. The victim was subsequently transferred to another hospital to be treated for her critical injuries. Johnson was arrested in 2010 after a computerized law enforcement data base search of his DNA identified him as the attacker in this case and linked him to the other attacks.
Cook County Judge Joseph Kazmierski sentenced Johnson today to 40 years for each Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault charge and 10 years for the Aggravated Battery/Great Bodily Harm charge. All charges are to run consecutively, for a total of sentence of 90 years. The remaining cases against Johnson are pending.
State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Mercedes Luque-Rosales and Mikki Miller and the Chicago Police Department for their work on this case.
