Man dies 7 weeks after West Side beating

A man beaten seven weeks ago on a West Side street died early today of his injuries.

George Esco, 57, was declared dead at 12:30 a.m. at Holy Cross Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Following an autopsy today, the medical examiner's office determined Esco's death was a homicide, and that he died of head injuries from blunt head trauma in an assault.

Esco had been the victim of a battery about 8 p.m. on July 10 in the 5300 block of West North Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Det. Jamie Duignan. Duignan did not have further information about the circumstances of the attack.

Grand Central Area detectives were investigating the case.

Esco, whose most recent address was in the 1400 block of North Long Avenue, has an arrest record dating back at least to 1989. Most of his arrests were on misdemeanor charges that were dismissed, but he was found guilty in a 1989 burglary case and ordered to serve 24 months probation.

More recently, he was hit with a felony charge of being a fugitive from justice last year, but the charge was dropped.