Parking Lot Bloodbath Shocks Fresno County

Police car with flashing lights at night.

A late-night killing in a Clovis government parking lot is putting a harsh spotlight on years of failed homelessness policy that left both the victim and the suspect on the streets.

Story Snapshot

A 64-year-old unhoused man was found dead with head trauma in a Clovis, California government parking lot around 3:30 a.m.
Police quickly detained a 53-year-old unhoused suspect, now booked on manslaughter and a post-release supervision violation.
The death, labeled Clovis’s second homicide of 2025, unfolded beside a county social services and CPS complex.
The case exposes how revolving-door justice and dysfunctional homelessness policy endanger communities and the vulnerable alike.

Early-Morning Homicide at a County Social Services Hub

Shortly before 3:30 a.m. on a Thursday, a Clovis police officer on routine patrol spotted a man lying in a parking lot near Ashlan and Villa, right by the Fresno County Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services complex. The man was bleeding from the head, and first responders quickly treated the scene as a potential homicide. Officers cordoned off a large section of the lot, seized a vehicle believed connected to the incident, and launched a full investigation.

As employees arrived for work at Social Services and the nearby Starbucks later that morning, they were met with police tape and crime-scene markers instead of their usual uneventful start to the day. Workers described the area as typically quiet and orderly, with only the occasional unhoused person passing through the lot. Many expressed disbelief that deadly violence had erupted in what they considered a calm government and commercial corridor.

Unhoused Victim and Suspect, Manslaughter Charge, and Ongoing Probe

Police soon confirmed one person was in custody, initially describing the deceased only as a middle-aged man. As detectives reviewed surveillance footage, conducted interviews, and processed evidence, they developed a clearer picture of what happened in the darkened lot. Investigators now say a physical altercation between two unhoused men escalated into a fatal confrontation that left one of them with catastrophic head trauma, turning a troubled parking area into an active homicide scene.

Clovis police later identified the victim as 64-year-old Robert Ramage and the suspect as 53-year-old Charles Gulley, both described as unhoused. Gulley was booked into Fresno County Jail on suspicion of manslaughter and for violating post-release community supervision, indicating he was already under court oversight when the incident occurred. Detectives emphasize that the case remains active, and they are urging anyone with information to contact police or Valley Crime Stoppers as they firm up the timeline and motives.

Safe-Suburb Image Collides With Homelessness and Public-Safety Reality

Clovis has long marketed itself as a safer, quieter alternative to neighboring Fresno, and officials note this is only the city’s second homicide investigation of 2025. That rarity underscores why workers at the county social services campus reacted with such shock, insisting that “nothing really goes on here” beyond normal business and the occasional unhoused individual crossing the lot. The killing challenges local assumptions that serious violence is something that happens somewhere else, not beside a CPS building serving vulnerable families.

At the same time, the fact that both the suspect and the victim were unhoused forces a harder conversation about how homelessness, untreated mental health issues, and unstable living situations can fuel conflict in and around public facilities. The parking lot of a government building—meant to be a place where families seek help from the county—became the backdrop for a fatal fight between two men effectively left to fend for themselves. That reality hits home for residents already wary of years of soft-on-crime and status-quo homelessness approaches.

Revolving-Door Supervision and Demands for Order Under Trump

Gulley’s booking for both manslaughter and violation of post-release community supervision highlights the revolving nature of California’s justice system, where offenders cycle between the streets and supervision programs. For many conservatives, this case reinforces a pattern: individuals with prior contact with the system end up back in precarious circumstances, sometimes near sensitive government sites, with too little accountability and too few boundaries to protect communities, workers, and the vulnerable people these facilities are supposed to serve.