Group Using Facebook to Find Evidence in Bay-to-Breakers Slaying

While police reached out to the public today to learn more about a fatal attack in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park after last month's Bay to Breakers race, the victim's friends have taken to social media to help authorities solve the case.

Stephen Martin, 30, was assaulted around 5 p.m. on May 20 in the Sharon Meadow area of the park. He died Friday after being taken off life support at San Francisco General Hospital.

The attack on Martin, a Santa Clara resident who started his own company in the South Bay, is the subject of a Facebook group titled "Were you at Bay to Breakers? We need your help!!!" that was launched the day of the attack to try to identify the suspect or suspects.

The group writes on the site that they are seeking "justice for our dear friend Stephen who was assaulted at Bay to Breakers."

The group lists their email address at helpthetrolls@gmail.com, a reference to the troll doll costumes the group was wearing for the race, which is known for its participants' zany costumes.

The attack was the topic of a news conference this morning by San Francisco police, who released two pictures they believe include persons of interest in the case.

After attending Bay to Breakers earlier that day, Martin's group at some point got into an argument with a group of about 12 people. One of the males in that group punched Martin, who fell and hit his head on the ground and lost consciousness.

Police Cmdr. John Loftus said the argument was over a cellphone but declined to elaborate.

The photos released by police show Martin wearing a green wig and standing with a group of people. Investigators are seeking the identities of at least two people in the pictures, including a male wearing a  white 49ers jersey and a female wearing an orange tutu.

Loftus said police are also seeking more footage that may have been recorded of the assault or the events leading up to it.

"People often are taking videos and photographs following the race," Loftus said. "They may have picked up some of the assault, and that's what we'd like to have."

That sentiment was echoed by dozens of friends and supporters who wrote on the Facebook page following word of Martin's death.

"How utterly senseless this act of violence!," Patricia Schwarz wrote. "It both breaks my heart and makes me terribly angry. I hope there is an arrest soon ... people need to come forward if they saw or heard anything related to this awful act of brutality."

Martin was the founder of SMA California, a San Jose-based company that specialized in crafting reserve studies, budget planning tools used by homeowners' associations and real estate developers.

According to Martin's Facebook page, he graduated from University of California at Santa Barbara and was originally from the Kern County city of Tehachapi.

 Bay City News report