Carl Johnson, 70, a Black/African American male, was shot on the morning of August 2, 2025, in the backyard of a northwest Fresno home and died less than an hour later at Community Regional Medical Center. Officers were dispatched around 10:12 a.m. to a residence in the 5600 block of North Cleo Avenue near West Roberts Avenue, where they found Carl Johnson, 70, male, with a gunshot wound to his upper body; he was pronounced dead at 10:58 a.m., according to police.
Carl Johnson, 70, male, had gone to the home at the invitation of the residents, who were preparing for a yard sale. According to investigators and the family, Carl Johnson, 70, male, was there to look at fishing gear connected to a longtime buddy—an errand that turned into an argument in the backyard. As Carl Johnson, 70, male, tried to leave, a single shot was fired that struck him in the upper body, ending a visit that had begun as a routine stop among acquaintances.
Police identified the alleged shooter as Stewart Coleman, 46, a resident of the home. Officers arrested Coleman at the scene and recovered a firearm believed to have been used, while early statements indicated that Coleman's mother called 911 and cooperated with detectives. Carl Johnson, 70, male, was later formally identified by authorities, and news of his death quickly drew friends and relatives to the family home, where they waited for answers and comforted one another.
Within days, prosecutors charged Coleman with murder. In a packed Fresno County courtroom, relatives described Carl Johnson, 70, male, as a devoted family man and avid fisherman; Coleman did not enter a plea at that initial appearance and awaited counsel. Records and local reporting noted that Coleman was booked into the Fresno County Jail on a homicide charge with bail set at $1 million, while detectives continued to seek additional witnesses.
The portrait that emerges is of Carl Johnson, 70, male, arriving for a familiar favor and walking into a dispute that flared into violence. Investigators tied the encounter to the yard sale preparations and to the shared history between Carl Johnson, 70, male, and the shooter's late father, a fishing companion. An arrest was made at the scene, a weapon was recovered, and a murder case was opened, but the unanswered questions—how an argument escalated so quickly, why a neighborly visit ended in gunfire—still hang over the backyard on North Cleo Avenue as the court process moves forward.
