Steve Martin, 53, was found stabbed to death in the hallway of a home in the 5100 block of West Concord Place in Austin, on Chicago's West Side, on the evening of Sunday, May 14, 2023, which was Mother's Day. The Chicago Police Department investigated. The Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker, which lists every homicide in the city, records his death as a stabbing.
According to Chicago police, he was stabbed multiple times at about 7:40 p.m. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police did not say who found him, whether he lived at the home, whether he was attacked inside or made his way into the hallway after being hurt, or whether anyone else was present. No one else was reported injured.
No one was in custody, police said. No suspect description, motive, person of interest or reward was announced in any coverage that could be found, and no later story reported an arrest or a charge.
The tracker does not record his race, another sign of how thin the public record of his death is.
Almost nothing about his life has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. He surely had relatives, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
His name makes the search even harder. Steve Martin is the name of one of the most famous comedians and actors in the country, and searches for it are dominated by ticket listings, tour dates and stories about the entertainer, along with obituaries for many other men named Steve or Steven Martin. Anyone looking for news of the man who died in Austin in 2023 is likely to find almost nothing, which may help explain why his story has been so hard to follow.
The timing also stands out. He was killed on a Sunday evening on Mother's Day, when many families in the neighborhood would have been home or gathering with relatives, and when it was still light outside. People visiting the block that evening may have noticed someone arriving at or leaving the home.
The 5100 block of West Concord Place is a residential side street near Laramie Avenue in Austin, the large West Side community that stretches to the city's western border with Oak Park. The surrounding blocks are lined with houses and two-flats, where neighbors often know who belongs on the street and who does not.
Chicago recorded about 620 homicides in 2023, down from about 720 in 2022 and about 800 in 2021, the deadliest year in a quarter century. Chicago police reported clearing roughly half of the city's homicides in the years from 2019 through 2023, though those figures count cases closed without charges. Most killings in those years were shootings, and deaths from stabbings and beatings often received only a few lines of news coverage before fading from view.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Steve Martin could be found in news archives or public records. More than 3 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew the Steve Martin who lived or spent time on West Concord Place, or who was on the block that Mother's Day evening, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a person seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the Chicago Police Department's anonymous tip line at (833) 408-0069 or submit a tip online at CPDTIP.com, or contact Cook County Crime Stoppers at (800) 535-STOP (7867).
