Guilty verdict in trial for 2011 beating death in Evanston

A Cook County jury this afternoon found a south suburban Hazel Crest man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 killing of a hearing-impaired man in a robbery on the Evanston-Chicago border, officials said. 

In a trial at the courthouse in Skokie, the jury found Brandon Lee Allen Hinton, 27, guilty of killing John Costulas, 61, of the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago.  Costulas was found Sept. 2, 2011, in the 500 block of Howard Street.  He'd been struck in the head and robbed of $10, police said at the time.  He died in a hospital a week later. 

Hinton was accused of striking Costulas in the head and knocking him to the ground.  After taking the $10 from Costulas' pocket, Hinton fled, leaving Costulas bleeding and unconscious, authorities have said.  Police used video surveillance to link Hinton to Costulas’ murder, authorities said. 

Hinton is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 22, officials said.  They said he faces between 20 and 60 years in prison and will have to serve 100 percent of the sentence. 

A 45-year-old Hoffman Estates man was cited for negligent driving on Thursday after the semitruck he was driving hit Chicago Transit Authority and Metra viaducts in downtown Evanston, damaging the container box he was carrying.