Family still waiting for arrests in murder of Fresno shoemaker

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A murder victim's family is still awaiting answers, two months after a Fresno shoemaker is killed.

Fresno police have been working this case since 85-year-old George Sheklian's death. But now that the suspects in the death of another Fresno murder have been identified, Sheklian's family is hopeful arrests will be made in his case.

The phone at Georgio's and Sons Shoe Repair is ringing off the hook and the custom requests for fine leather goods are stacking up.

"I mean I have this order that I'm gonna do now. It's probably about a month old, honestly," said Arsen Sheklian.

Just as Arsen Sheklian gets a minute to work on shoe repairs, he's helping customers until the phone rings again.

"Now I really realize how much work my dad was doing because he was doing a lot of lot of work," said Sheklian.

Arsen's dad was George Sheklian, who used to own and operate the North Fresno shoe repair store. But now Arsen has taken over since his father was killed during an armed robbery at a former gun shop next door. Armed robbers shoved him to the ground as they were making their getaway and he died from head injuries. The suspects are still on the run, but arrests in another murder case involving a 9-year-old girl were made last week, and Arsen said his family has hope for their father's case.

"We're really happy they caught those killers. And our hearts and our minds and our prayers are out to Janessa's family," said Sheklian.

Arsen said during the search for suspects in the Janessa Ramirez case -- who was killed by gunfire in a gang fight -- Police Chief Jerry Dyer made a personal call to his family.

"Just to let me know that they were still working on it, and just because a lot of detectives were on that case didn't mean that they pulled anybody off from my dad's case," said Sheklian.

While police continue to investigate the tragic death of Sheklian's father, this building is in the process of being torn down. The shoe repair store will have to move, like the former gun shop that left one week ago. But Arsen's not worried -- even with a heavy workload -- because customers have already offered to help him relocate in April.

"I used to be like, 'Dad why do you like Fresno so much? We're landlocked, there's not even a beach here. Of all places in the world why did you come to Fresno?' And honestly after all this I understand it was the people in Fresno," said Sheklian.

A community that comes together to help those who need it most.

If you have any information that could lead to the arrest of the two suspects in the video, there is now a $15,000 reward in this case. For information on how to anonymously contact police, call (559) 498-7867.