Fourth victim dies from L.A.-area attacks on mostly homeless men
LOS ANGELES -- A fourth man has died from injuries suffered during a string of brutal attacks on mostly homeless men in the Los Angeles area, CBS Los Angeles reports. Authorities say the victim was violently beaten in the early morning hours of Sept. 24 while sleeping on a Santa Monica sidewalk.
He'd been in a coma since the attack and died Sunday, Santa Monica Police Lt. Saul Rodriguez says.
Suspect Ramon Escobar, 47, was arrested that same day, Sept. 24, for that attack and six others in downtown L.A. and Santa Monica dating back to Sept. 10.
Authorities say he's been deported from the U.S. at least six times
Escobar is facing three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and four counts of second-degree robbery. Santa Monica say they'll ask for an additional murder charge to be filed against Escobar for the Sept. 24 attack.
Escobar also remains a person of interest in the disappearance of his aunt and uncle in Houston, siblings Roy and Dina Escobar.
Police say Escobar has been linked to a total of seven attacks:
— A Sept. 8 assault of a person who was sleeping on the beach in Santa Monica; the victim was treated and released from a hospital
— A Sept. 10 attack on a man also sleeping on the Santa Monica beach in the same area; that victim is still in a coma
— Sept. 16 attacks of three homeless people in downtown Los Angeles, with two of those victims — Kelvin Williams, 59, and Brandon Ridout, 24, both of Los Angeles — later dying and the other remaining in critical condition
— The Sept. 20 fatal beating of a 39-year-old Steven Cruze Jr. of San Gabriel, under the Santa Monica Pier; his family says he wasn't homeless
— The Sept. 24 attack
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says Escobar was homeless himself, having recently arrived in the area driving an SUV from Texas on Sept. 5, three days before the attacks began.
Escobar is an El Salvador native who was deported to that country six times between 1997 and 2011, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE says he was also ordered deported by a federal immigration judge in February 1988, according to ICE. He has six felony convictions for burglary and illegal reentry, ICE said.
In 1995, Escobar was sentenced in Harris County, Texas, to five years in prison on charges of auto burglary. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he was paroled in 1997 with an ICE detainer and then immediately deported, the first of his six deportations.
In November 2017, he was convicted of misdemeanor assault in Harris County. In February of this year, he was convicted of criminal trespassing, also in Harris County, per court records.
According to CBS affiliate KHOU-TV, Escobar's aunt and uncle have been missing since late August. Roy Escobar was last seen Aug. 26, and Dina Escobar two dalys later. Dina's burned out van was found in Galvaston, Texas, on Aug. 30. Escobar was questioned by police in Texas that same day. Shortly after, he fled the state.
Ligia Salamanca, Dina's daughter, told KHOU her cousin Ramon was living with Roy at the time of their disappearance.
Escobar remains jailed without bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 8.
