Brandon Lee Allen Hinton, 28, of Hazel Crest, was convicted of first-degree murder in September 2013, and was sentenced Thursday by Cook County Judge Garritt Howard, according to a statement from Evanston police.
At about 5:20 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2011, John Costulas was walking to work in the 500 block of Howard Street in Evanston when Hinton attacked, striking him in the in the head and causing him to collapse, police said at the time.
Hinton took $10 from Costulas's pocket, then walked away, leaving the victim unconscious in the street. Costulas, of the 7200 block of North Hoyne in Chicago, was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston, where he died about a week later on Sept. 10.
An autopsy found Costulas died of blunt head trauma from an assault and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
An anonymous tip led Evanston police and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force to Hinton, who was arrested about two weeks after the attack.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire - Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2014.)
