Fresno detectives investigate city’s first homicide of 2020; 2nd victim shot in face

Fresno police Thursday were investigating the city’s first homicide of 2020 after an 18-year-old Fresno man was shot to death and a second was rushed to a hospital in critical condition after being shot in the face.

The Fresno County Coroner identified the deceased victim as Dezon Cheatham. The victim shot in the face was identified by police as Christyan Roberts, 17.

The shooting took place late Wednesday on Tyler Avenue, which parallels the north side of Highway 180, near Fifth Street.

Lt. Larry Bowlan, of the department’s Street Violence Bureau, said officers received a 911 call from Tyler and Fourth Street about 11 p.m. There, they found Roberts suffering from a gunshot wound to the face. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he remained in stable condition Thursday afternoon.

On Fifth Street, officers found Cheatham inside a car. He was dead from a wound to his upper body. Officers worked the crime scene through the night and located shell casings in the street.

Cheatham had enlisted in the Army and was scheduled to leave in February while Roberts was a youth leader at his church, Bowlan said.

Neither has gang ties and they were not armed during the shooting, Bowlan said.

“At this time, we are not releasing a motive for the shooting as we are following up on leads,” Bowlan said. “This was a senseless act of violence that took the life of one young man and critically injured a second.”

Police asked anyone with information about the shootings to call Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.

This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 9:44 AM.