San Francisco police and Facebook friends of a slain Santa Clara man are making an urgent plea for witnesses of a now-fatal Bay to Breakers assault to send them photos or video of the event.
Stephen Martin, 30, died Friday at San Francisco's General Hospital.
He had hospitalized since the May 20 Bay to Breakers run, when he was punched in Sharon Meadows in Golden Gate Park near the Sharon Arts Studio and tennis courts. The punch caused him to fall and hit the pavement. Martin was knocked out and never regained consciousness.
Police say Martin came with a bunch of friends to the highly popular race, and they were all dressed as trolls. Martin was wearing camouflage shorts, no shirt and a green wig. He wasn't registered as a runner, but friends told police that he was taking part in the post-race festivities.
At 5 p.m., there was a fight between Martin's group and a dozen other people, who were dressed in red-and-white 49ers outfits. One of the women in the group was wearing an orange tutu.
Click here to see those images.
Cmdr. John Loftus said the fight may have been over a cell phone, but he wouldn't elaborate, and it may also have gang connections, though police emphasized Martin was not a gang member.
During the fight, police said a man from the 49ers group came up and punched Martin.
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One of Martin's friends wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to finding the attackers that "a guy came up from nowhere and struck him on the side of his head. Steve fell to the ground hitting his head on the asphalt and has been in a coma since."
More details have not yet been forthcoming, and police are hoping for more leads.
Anyone who had photographs of the punch is asked to contact San Francisco homicide inspectors at 415-553-1145. The anonymous tip line is 415-575-4444. People can also access text-a-tip at TIP411 and type SFPD in the subject line.
If you'd like to send donations to the family, you can email stephenmartindonations@gmail.com.
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-432-4758 or lisa.fernandez@nbcuni.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/ljfernandez.
