Man gets 4 1/2 years for punch that led to impalement on fence

A man was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison Monday for throwing a punch that led to a man being impaled on a metal fence.

Willie Hubbard, 35, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a bench trial in March before Judge Matthew Coghlan, according to court records.

Coghlan handed down the 4 1/2-year sentence at a hearing Monday, court records show.

Police said 48-year-old Edward James Scott was harassing guests at a party in the 9100 block of South Greenwood Avenue about 8 p.m. June 16, 2013, when Hubbard punched him in the face.

The blow caused Scott to lose his balance, resulting in his head becoming impaled by a wrought-iron fence near the eye, police said. Scott was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he later died, and an autopsy ruled his death a homicide.

Hubbard, of the 1000 block of East 111th Street, later turned himself in to police, authorities said at the time.

Hubbard was given credit for 72 days spent in jail, and will be required to serve one year of mandatory supervised release after his sentence is complete.