Second-degree murder charges for alleged road-rage punch - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

A southwest suburban man accused of throwing a punch in a fit of road rage more than a year ago has been charged with second-degree murder after authorities said the punch killed the other driver.

Will County Judge Sarah Jones arraigned 40-year-old Christopher M. Yeoman on the new charges Tuesday, Sun-Times Media is reporting. He was indicted on aggravated battery charges in July and bond was set at $75,000. The judge raised the bond by $25,000 Tuesday and deputies took Yeoman into custody.

Attorney Clifford Johnson didn't deny his client, who pleaded not guilty, punched Frank Egas, who was 64 when he died, but said he did so in self-defense.

Romeoville police Asst. Chief Steven Lucchesi said Yeoman found himself behind Egas on June 2, 2011, while the two were at a stoplight at New Avenue and Romeo Road. Egas didn't go when a right-turn arrow turned green, Lucchesi said, so Yeoman honked his horn.

And Egas allegedly flipped him off.

Yeoman and Egas then drove west on 135th Street, Lucchesi said. Yeoman told police he tried to pass Egas several times, but he said Egas blocked the lane and honked his horn.

Finally, Lucchesi said, the two men stopped at Romeo Road and Route 53, and got out of their cars. That's where Yeoman threw a punch, knocking Egas to the ground, police said. Yeoman's attorney said his client only threw the punch after Egas moved aggressively toward his client.

Egas was taken to the hospital that day, Lucchesi said, and court records show he died Sept. 29 at a convalescent home in Lake County. The Lake County Coroner's office performed an autopsy Oct. 1, and Coroner Artis Yancey ruled Egas' death a homicide in January.

Yancey said Egas died of "multiple injuries due to physical violence."