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By Miriam Raftery
August 9, 2021 (Borrego Springs) -- On February 18, Sheriff's deputies responded to Di Giorgio Road and Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs for a report of a battery. Deputies found Martin Baker, 49, on the side of the road suffering from head trauma.
He was transported to a local area hospital for treatment. Later that day, deputies arrested Eugene Carl Focarelli, 37, for assault with a deadly weapon, not a firearm. On Feb. 22, Baker’s condition declined and the Borrego Springs resident died at the hospital.
On Feb, 23, the Medical Examiner's Office conducted the autopsy of Martin Baker but required additional investigation before determining a preliminary cause and manner of death. On June 30, the Medical Examiner's Office preliminary determined the cause of Baker's death was complications from blunt force trauma and the manner was homicide.
On July 14, 2021, the San Diego District Attorney's Office charged Focarelli with murder. Focarelli was already in custody of the Sheriff's Department for the assault on Baker and unrelated charges; he remains in custody without bail awaiting court proceedings.
On August 4, the Medical Examiner's Office notified the Sheriff's Department of their official findings. The cause of Baker's death was complications from blunt force trauma and the manner of his death is homicide.
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