A 68-year-old man was stabbed to death on Francis Court in Martinez yesterday, and as of this week, the person responsible for it remains on the loose. The victim has been identified as Todd Stewart, and police say the attack happened around 5:10 PM when officers responding to the scene found him on the ground with apparent stab wounds. Medical personnel pronounced him dead there.
According to The Mercury News, the Martinez Police Department has released images of the suspect, who appeared to be wearing a light-colored hat, sunglasses, a tactical vest, a light-colored long-sleeved shirt, dark-colored gloves, dark-colored pants and dark-colored shoes. The suspect left the scene in a Cadillac SUV that appeared to be silver or gray, and had not been located as of Thursday, per police.
As reported by SFGATE, the emergency response began after the Martinez Police Department received multiple 911 calls at approximately 5:09 PM reporting a man stabbed on the ground in front of a home on Francis Court. Neighbors' quick calls to dispatch brought officers to the scene within minutes, though it was too late to save Stewart.
Crime Scene Investigators Called In From the County
Crime scene investigators from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office assisted detectives from the Martinez Police Department Investigations Bureau in processing forensic evidence at the Francis Court scene, the outlet Contra Costa News reports. The involvement of county-level crime scene specialists is typical for major violent crime scenes that require more resources than a single municipal department can provide on its own.
The Martinez Police Department is investigating the stabbing as a homicide, and the case remains active under lead Detective Cesar Dominguez, according to KTVU. Anyone with information is asked to contact Dominguez at 925-372-3451 or [email protected], the station reported, an updated email address that supersedes an earlier contact listed by The Mercury News.
A Rare Homicide for a City That Sees Few
Fatal stabbings are exceptionally uncommon in Martinez. Official crime statistics published by the Martinez Police Department show the city recorded just one homicide in all of 2025, and had recorded zero homicides in 2026 before Thursday's attack.
That doesn't mean the city is free of violence altogether. Data from the department's Citizen RIMS database shows Martinez logged 60 assault offenses and eight robberies through early August of this year, compared to 64 assaults and four robberies across all of 2025. FBI Crime Data Explorer figures published in 2025 put Martinez's overall violent crime rate at roughly 5.7 incidents per 1,000 residents, well above the national average of 3.6 per 1,000, according to Kurby AI.
Open Questions and Potential Charges
Investigators have not said whether Stewart and his attacker knew each other, and it remains unclear whether doorbell or surveillance cameras along Francis Court captured the Cadillac's license plate — a detail that could speed up identifying the driver. Those questions are central to how quickly police can move from a wanted-suspect case to an arrest.
If a suspect is eventually caught and convicted, California law lays out steep potential consequences. Under Penal Code Section 187, a first-degree murder conviction carries a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, while second-degree murder carries 15 years to life, according to DCD Law. Separately, Penal Code Section 12022(b) adds a mandatory consecutive one-year enhancement for personally using a knife or other deadly weapon during a felony, per the Shouse Law Group. Any charges stemming from the case would be prosecuted through the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigations, which handles felony prosecutions tied to Martinez homicides.
The Martinez Police Department, headquartered at 525 Henrietta Street downtown, continues to lead the investigation alongside county crime scene investigators. Anyone with information about the stabbing or the suspect's Cadillac SUV is urged to reach out to the department's investigations bureau.
