Visalia man shoots roommate to death after argument, police say

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- An argument between two roommates turned into a homicide investigation in the South Valley Monday.

Neighbors say 59-year old Darrell Heinrichs was always helping people.

"Just giving and loving he was a different kind of guy special but he would give you the shirt off your back right there if you asked for it just a really giving guy," neighbor Daniel Montion said.

That generosity turned to tragedy after police said Darrell was killed by his roommate early Monday morning.

"Our dispatch center received a phone call from someone who was not on scene advising that somebody had been shot inside the house," Sgt. Kevin Kroeze with the Visalia Police Department said.

When officers got on scene, the suspect, 50-year-old Glen Petree, and a teenage witness were in the front yard.

Petree was immediately detained after officers went in the house and found Heinrichs dead in one of the bedrooms.

"There was some sort of argument and the suspect Petree walked away, retrieved a handgun and returned back to the victim and shot him multiple times," Kroeze said.

Neighbors said Heinrichs worked in agriculture and was always lending a hand, giving food to those who had none and money to people who needed it.

Montion said Petree worked with Darrell and needed a place to stay, so Darrell opened his doors to him.

Petree had only lived at Darrell's house for a month or two.

"We're just kind of shocked and devastated that someone like Darrell, who was so loving and giving, and that this kind of thing would happen to him while he was helping people out," Montion said. "That's the crazy part of it."

Investigators are still trying to determine why the two were arguing.

The murder is the 5th in the city of Visalia so far this year.