Man stabbed to death by girlfriend's son in east central Fresno, police say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The man who was killed in Fresno's first homicide of 2024 has been identified as 69-year-old Gary Bishop.

Police say the deadly stabbing happened at about 8 pm Friday at an apartment complex on White near Jackson Avenue.

Officers found Bishop stabbed in his upper body. He was rushed to the hospital but died from his injuries.

On Sunday, police arrested 32-year-old Aaron Brown after he tried to run from officers.

Brown is the son of Bishop's girlfriend.

Investigators also recovered a knife that is the suspected murder weapon.

"He did make admissions and confessions consistent with the evidence located on scene," said Lt. Cervantes.

The couple had been in a relationship for 14 years.

Bishop's girlfriend and Brown's mother told Action News that the pain is still fresh for her, and it hurts that she lost two very important people to her in one night.

Brown lived with his mother and Bishop at the apartment where the homicide happened.

"This does appear to be an inter-family dispute," said Fresno Police Lt. Paul Cervantes.

Investigators said the couple had a disagreement, which upset Brown.

That's when he allegedly stabbed Bishop.

Carlos Ramos was coming home when he saw all the police activity on Friday night.

"I just saw a lot of cops, around 10 or 5 different cops," said Carlos Ramos, who lives nearby. "There was an emergency team blocking off the area."

Ramos said Friday's incident is concerning. He describes the neighborhood as usually quiet and doesn't see many people walking around.

Detectives said Brown started living at the complex around September but came and went.

Fresno police said Brown is a gang member, but the stabbing was not a gang-motivated incident.

Officers have had contact with him in the past. In 2011, he was arrested on several charges, including robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and burglary, which landed him in prison.

He was released in July last year.

Police add that Brown was arrested last Monday on possession of ammunition but was released the following day due to overcrowding.

"A very sad state of affairs in terms of the fact that Mr. Brown was out when this incident occurred," said Lt. Cervantes. "It our belief that had he been in custody, this wouldn't have happened."

Police said Brown was on post-release community supervision at the time of the stabbing.

Fresno police said they're planning to file this case with the DA's office.

Brown is booked in jail right now on one count of murder.

Even though detectives made an arrest, they're urging anyone with additional information to contact the Fresno Police Department.

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