Fourth victim dies after L.A. attacks on mostly homeless men: media

[October 04, 2018]  (Reuters) - A fourth man has died after he was struck in the head during a series of attacks on mostly homeless men in the Los Angeles area last month, media said on Wednesday.

The man, who has not been identified, was attacked while he slept in the area of 7th Street and Broadway in Santa Monica on Sept. 24. He died on Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing police.

Ramon Escobar, 47, who fled to California from Texas after being questioned in the disappearance of two Houston relatives, was arrested last week on suspicion of bludgeoning seven men.

Escobar, an El Salvador native and convicted felon who has been repeatedly deported from the United States, faces three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and four counts of robbery, authorities said.

Escobar is accused of beating three homeless men in Los Angeles on Sept. 16. Two of the men, Branden Ridout and Kelvin Williams, were killed while the other man suffered serious injuries, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement on Sept. 26.

Escobar was also accused of beating to death Steven Cruze, whose body was found under the Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 20, the office said.

He is also is accused of attacking several other men, some of whom were homeless, in Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

Ramon Escobar, 47, appears in a booking photo provided by the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston, Texas, U.S., September 27, 2018. Harris County Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS

Authorities said the attacker bludgeoned his victims with a baseball bat or a pair of bolt-cutters.

Investigators plan to ask the district attorney to file an additional murder charge against Escobar, Santa Monica Police Lieutenant Saul Rodriguez told the Times on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; editing by Darren Schuettler)

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