Charges upgraded to murder for man in death of roommate

Charges have been upgraded to murder for a 45-year-old man who is accused in the July 21 death of his roommate who was hit in the head during an altercation on the 4th of July.
Alvaro Elizondo, 45, of Mexico and of the 4400 block of South Wolcott Avenue, was charged with murder in connection with the altercation that occurred on the 1800 block of West 44th Street on July 4.
Elizondo was involved in an altercation with family members when the 41-year-old victim,  Juan Zavala, 46, intervened.
Elizondo repeatedly struck Zavala, who later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 8:56 a.m. on July 21 at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital.
Elizondo  was initially charged with battery in the attack.
Zavala had been attacked about 10 p.m. that night in the 1800 block of West 44th Street, around the corner from where he lived as a roommate of Elizondo.
Police were called to West 44^th Street address after someone reported a battery in progress.
They found Zavala unconscious on the sidewalk after he had been punched by his roommate and also found the roommate's 73-year-old mother, who had been pushed in the fight.
The attacker had fled the scene by the time police arrived. Elizondo's mother, who also lives in the Wolcott home, declined medical treatment.
Alcohol may have been involved in the dispute that led up to the attack.
Elizondo was arrested after he returned home hours later and threatened other family members who lived at the Wolcott address.
Elizondo was initially being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on domestic battery charges and a charge of aggravated battery of a person over the age of 60.
Elizondo had previously has served time in prison for a manslaughter to which he pleaded guilty in 1988.
In addition to his manslaughter plea, Elizondo also has served time in prison on a 1991 charge of receiving or selling a stolen vehicle and was sentenced to one year's probation for a 1986 charge of delivery of a controlled substance