Illinois authorities have announced the cause of death for George Levin, who was found dead in the basement where he lived in his family’s home last month.
Levin, 63, died from “multiple injuries” in his family’s Chicago home on Jan. 26, the Cook County Bureau of Administration tells PEOPLE. His manner of death has been ruled a homicide.
Chicago police arrested Geiderwuin Bello Morales, 21, and Jefferson Ubilla-Delgado, 29, on Jan. 29 in connection with Levin’s death, the department previously said in a statement.
Prosecutors say Levin met the pair on a dating app, the Chicago Sun-Times, NBC Chicago and CBS News previously reported.
Just hours prior to their scheduled meeting, Levin and his sister had dinner with their mother upstairs in the same house, according to an incident report obtained by PEOPLE.
Levin’s sister told investigators that a little after he went downstairs after dinner, she heard a noise from the basement and came down to check, prosecutors said during a recent court hearing, per CBS News. She said she encountered Bello Morales who allegedly told her that Levin was fine, saying he would ask Levin to call her.
The sister said that later, she went down again, and found Levin tied up with duct-tape, gagged with a sock in his mouth and partially nude, CBS News and WGN-TV reported, citing investigators’ accounts.
The suspects were allegedly identified through security footage making purchases using Levin’s credit card; they had allegedly spent $4,000 on Amazon purchases, the Chicago Sun-Times and WGN-TV reported, citing investigators.
Police eventually tracked them down using Levin’s phone as well as a Immigration and Customs Enforcement-issued ankle monitor Ubilla-Delgado was wearing, CBS News and NBC Chicago reported. He is a native of Venezuela.
In an online obituary, his loved ones shared that he had a sharp wit with a laugh that could “light up an event.”
“Never forget dancing with him at many a club. We shared many interests, art, movies, concerts, culture,” wrote an old friend from college.
His family has urged anyone interested to donate to the LGBTQ health and wellness organization The Center on Halsted (centeronhalsted.org) or any other LGBTQ organization in his honor.
The suspects have been charged with one count of murder and one count of robbery each, per Chicago police.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether they have entered pleas. During a recent court appearance, their attorneys said there was no way of knowing the actual circumstances of what happened, per CBS News and NBC Chicago.