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Man Dies Weeks After Fourth of July Beating

 Alvaro Elizondo, 45, is charged with domestic battery in the attack on his roommate, who died Saturday.
Alvaro Elizondo, 45, is charged with domestic battery in the attack on his roommate, who died Saturday.
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Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO — A man died weeks after he was assaulted near his South Side home on Independence Day and his roommate was charged with the assault, authorities said.

Juan Zavala, 46, was pronounced dead at 8:56 a.m. at Stroger Hospital on Saturday, more than two weeks after he was beaten on July 4 near his home in the 4400 block of South Wolcott Avenue, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

An autopsy ruled Zavala died of complications from blunt head trauma sustained during an assault, and his death was ruled a homicide by the morgue. Alcohol contributed to his death, according to the autopsy.

Zavala's roommate, Alvaro Elizondo, 45, was charged with domestic battery earlier this month in the attack, said Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman. He also was charged with aggravated battery of a person over the age of 60, police said.

On the Fourth of July, officers responded to a call of a domestic battery about 10 p.m. and found Zavala unconscious on the ground in the 1800 block of West 44th Street, police said.

Officers were told that Elizondo had punched Zavala in the face until he he was unconscious, and that he continued to beat his roommate after Zavala was knocked out, according to police.

Zavala was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition after the attack, police said.

Police said at some point, Zavala's mother tried to intervene, and Elizondo pushed her down before fleeing the scene. He was later found and arrested, police said.

On July 6, a judge ordered Elizondo held on a $500,000 bail. As of Monday, the charges against him had not been upgraded.

Reporter Tanveer Ali contributed.