Man arrested for shooting and killing longtime friend at Yokuts Valley home, deputies say

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A suspect has been arrested for a shooting that killed his friend in Yokuts Valley on Wednesday night.

The shooting happened around 9:40 pm on at a home on Squaw Valley Road near Argenbright Lane.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says 49-year-old Burton Jones was found suffering from a gunshot wound outside of the home, which is owned by 56-year-old Jerry Beggs.

"Deputies got on scene, they found a man on the ground who had suffered a gunshot wound," said Tony Botti with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. "They immediately started to give him medical aid and CPR. But he did pass away there."

Investigators say Beggs and Jones, who were longtime friends, had gotten into a fight before shots were fired.

"Unfortunately, in this case we only have one real got person to talk and that's the suspect," said Botti.

"We did have some other people nearby on the property that kind of heard some stuff they might know some of the backstory between these two."

The sheriff's office says the fight between the two men started earlier in the week before reaching its boiling point Wednesday night.

Deputies are still working to figure out what the argument had been about.

The shooting happened just up the road from where Bailie Belcher lives.

"It's crazy that something like happens and you have no idea that's going on," said Belcher.

She said she got a text from her mom in the morning, telling her about what happened.

That's when she saw several sheriff's vehicles passing through.

"A little bit later this morning, I walked out on the porch, I saw a couple sheriff's cars coming down," said Belcher.

It's an area that Belcher's driven past before.

"There's a lot of debris and just stuff on the property," said Belcher. "You can't really tell where it begins and ends."

Investigators say Beggs has been cooperating in the investigation.

Officials say Beggs was arrested for the shooting and booked into the Fresno County Jail.

For news updates, follow Ana Torrea on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.