A spray-painted graffiti mark discovered near the body of a slain teenager may become the key piece of evidence in a case that could make San Francisco legal history: the city’s first juvenile defendant charged as an adult in 10 years.
Max Maltzman was 18 when he was found beaten to death inside a vacant warehouse in January 2023.
At the scene, investigators found one striking possible clue: the tag “EBOK” spray-painted above Maltzman’s body, with an arrow pointing downward, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Nearly two years later, in November 2024, police said they had identified a suspect: a former high school classmate of Maltzman who was 17 at the time of the killing.
Investigators reportedly pieced together the connection through interviews with classmates, who said the suspect — now 21, but publicly unnamed because he was a minor when the alleged crime occurred — was a graffiti artist known to use the “EBOK” tag, the Chronicle reported.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office is now seeking to have the suspect prosecuted as an adult, citing the brutality of the alleged attack.
Authorities allege the suspect drew Maltzman to the abandoned warehouse by claiming there would be a party, then assaulted him and tried to conceal his body beneath a large steel plate.
Because the defendant was under 18 at the time, the case remains in juvenile court for now — a process that has become standard in California since voters approved Proposition 57 in 2016, requiring a judge to decide whether a young defendant should be transferred to adult court.
Max Maltzman, 18, was found bludgeoned to death inside an abandoned San Francisco warehouse
Police identified Maltzman’s suspected killer because of a clue left at the scene – the graffiti tag ‘EBOK’ (pictured at a different location) that had been spray-painted above the victim, with an arrow pointing down
In San Francisco, prosecutors have requested five cases, including this one, be transferred to adult court over the last decade. The other cases were all rejected, the Chronicle reported.
This defendant’s hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, where Judge Anne Costin will decide if the case moves to adult court.
Maltzman was reported missing in January 2023, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
He was last seen at his apartment in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood on January 6, 2023.
Over two weeks later, his bludgeoned body was found inside an abandoned warehouse at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on January 23, 2023, with the graffiti pointing towards his body.
Despite the clue, it took investigators almost two years to identify and arrest a suspect in the case.
On November 29, 2024, police arrested Maltzman’s former classmate from Raoul Wallenberg High School after investigators found cell phone data and surveillance that placed them together.
Footage showed the two entering the warehouse together, then 20 minutes later Maltzman called 911, according to prosecutors.
Maltzman was reported missing in January 2023. Police said he was last seen on surveillance footage walking around with his classmate
Over two weeks later, his bludgeoned body was found inside an abandoned warehouse at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard with the graffiti pointed towards his body
Police responded to the scene but did not find anything. Over two weeks later, his body was discovered by a person who went into the warehouse to look at street art.
Eventually, several teens came forward to say that the suspect admitted to killing Maltzman, including a person who said he texted him a picture of his bloodied knuckles.
The suspect’s ex-girlfriend told investigators that he killed Maltzman because he had allegedly bragged about sexually assaulting someone, a claim that authorities say is unsubstantiated.
Maltzman’s parents, Reed Maltzman and Jennifer Gosselin, told the Chronicle that they found it ‘nauseating’ that the defendant ‘spread this cruel and unsubstantiated rumor to justify the horrific murder of our son.’
At one of the court hearings, Gosselin said: ‘His blood on the walls, his body stuffed underground, his murderer’s tag pointing down to his body.
‘The premeditated, meticulously planned and brutally executed murder was just another Friday night for him. He appears to have neatly tucked away this brutal murder into another part of himself.’
The suspect’s defense is arguing the case should stay in juvenile court because he was previously addicted to fentanyl and he was an ‘immature and dysfunctional youth.’
‘While it looks like there was some planning by (the defendant), this isn’t an Ocean’s 11 caper,’ the lawyer said. ‘Planning a fake party and asking someone to go to it is not the definition of high sophistication.’
If the judge decides to keep the case in juvenile court, the defendant will be released before he turns 25. If he is convicted in adult court, he could face a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.
The Daily Mail contacted the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and the defendant’s attorney for comment.
